Imran accustomed to take orders from above, says Sharif

Former PM flays PTI chairman Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: The three-time former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, alleged on Wednesday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan “is used to take orders from the top” and the same was evident in the Senate elections where PTI lawmakers voted for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader said that “everyone knows the meaning of orders from the top” and certainly the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister was not referring to Bani Gala while talking to Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Sirajul Haq that an order for casting votes for the Senate elections came “from the top”.



“The truth has surfaced in simplicity or erroneously,” Sharif said, while talking to the reporters inside the accountability court before hearing of the Flagship reference of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against him and his sons.

Sharif said those leaders claim to bring change but the people who intended to bring real change never take orders from the top.

He added that Khan is “bringing shame to politics and misleading the younger generation.”

Sharif said Khan claiming to have secured a big wicket but in reality he ran away from the pitch during his recent visit to Lahore.

“He was given the cold shoulder in Lahore as the city did not give him any response,” Sharif said, adding, “Khan should ponder over the claim of securing a big wicket as the PTI’s own wicket fell in Lahore a day earlier and he had to run away from the pitch since the bowling was tough.”

When a reporter drew his attention towards a poster of a PTI candidate having photos of Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, Khan and other PTI leaders, which has gone viral in the social media, Sharif replied that “it shows how the PTI is working”.

Meanwhile, Sharif’s counsel Khawaja Haris completed cross examination of NAB’s Director General (DG) Zahir Shah in the Flagship and other companies’ reference.

The witness has recorded his statement and produced annual returns, memorandum of articles, statements of the directors and shareholders and land registry pertaining to land in the name of Flagship and other companies.

Shah, who was the custodian of documents received from the UK Central Authority (UKCA), admitted during cross examination that the request seeking information under the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) did not ask for the documents provided by the UKCA.



Haris also pointed out that the documents received through MLA were neither stamped nor certified by any authorised officer.

The defence counsel earlier contended before the court that NAB had received the documents from UKCA on March 20 but produced these before the court after a month’s gap. The counsel claimed that before producing the documents, NAB leaked them in media to defame Sharif family.

When Haris questioned Shah about the leakage of sensitive information and documents, Shah denied the allegations.

Following the cross examination, Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir adjourned the hearing till Monday.