ISLAMABAD: (Parliament Times) Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar has urged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan to play his role in bringing the nation out of ‘an atmosphere of mistrust’.
The informal remarks came during a conversation on Monday between the CJP and the PTI chief during a hearing on Khan’s request against illegal encroachments in Bani Gala.
Acknowledging Khan as a leader, the chief justice said his voice could bring betterment for the country. “You are not a common man,” he said.
“As a leader, you have a huge responsibility. Everyone including you must respect the court,” Nisar said to the PTI chief.
“The court operates in accordance with the law,” CJP Mian Saqib Nisar said to the PTI chief.
The informal conversation between the opposition party leader and the country’s top judge comes days after the SC ordered investigations into corruption allegations levelled against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, saying there was insufficient evidence to order his removal from office.
Two dissenting judges on the five-member bench hearing the Panama leaks case were of the opinion that the PM had not been honest to the nation and that he should have been disqualified. Khan was one of the petitioners in the case.
“Khan Sahib, dissenting notes are a common occurrence in legal cases across the world,” said the chief justice said. “But nowhere have the same amount of concerns been raised on them as in Pakistan.”
Leading opposition parties, including the PTI and the Pakistan People’s Party, have demanded that the PM resigns until the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) completes its probe.
