Judge’s Sicilian Mafia remark angers govt

Says ‘such uncalled-for remarks’ are against the oath of judges

ISLAMABAD: The controversy triggered by the fiery speech of PML-N leader Nehal Hashmi deepened on Thursday after the government reacted angrily to the remarks by a three-member Supreme Court bench overseeing implementation of the Panamagate verdict.

The PML-N government, through a statement, criticised judges for their remarks given earlier in the day, censuring the government representatives for allegedly trying to politicise the probe into the Sharif family’s offshore assets exposed in the Panama Papers.

“Such uncalled-for remarks are against the oath and code of conduct of judges themselves,” a statement issued by an unnamed spokesman said.



Without naming the judge, the spokesman said it was unfortunate that one of the judges labelled the government the “Sicilian Mafia” and called the Attorney General for Pakistan their representative.

“Such remarks have damaged Pakistan’s identity and sanctity in the world,” the statement said, adding that it was wrong to say that the government took action against Nehal Hashmi only after the court issued him contempt notice.

“In fact, the government took them very seriously and took action against the senator on its own,” it said. “It is on record that his remarks came in the media at 10:50am on May 31 and immediately after that the minister for information said such remarks could be Nehal’s personal point of view.”



The statement claimed that as soon as a meeting of the national security committee concluded on Wednesday, the prime minister summoned Hashmi and sought explanation. On finding his explanation unsatisfactory, the government directed him to quit Senate seat, it said, adding that all this was done before the Supreme Court took notice of his speech.