Former senator Faisal Raza Abidi booked for 'bad-mouthing' top judge

In a TV interview, the ex-PPP leader referred to the chief justice as a 'traitor'

ISLAMABAD: Police have registered a criminal case against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader and ex-senator Faisal Raza Abidi for making "insulting and threatening" remarks against Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar.

A police officer told The Express Tribune that Abidi made the remarks during an interview with a web-based platform Naya Pakistan, which was posted online on July 2.

In the interview, the former Senator called Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar a "traitor" because he took oath under the PCO [Provisional Constitution Order].



“During the contempt of court case against me, I told this judge that he was a traitor because he took oath under PCO,” Abidi said in the interview, adding that he had also filed a reference against Chief Justice Saqib Nisar in the Supreme Judicial Council.

The FIR was registered at the Secretariat police station in Islamabad on Wednesday after the Supreme Court’s public relations officer Shahid Hussain submitted a complaint. Abidi has been booked for insulting, defaming and intimidating the judiciary.

In April, the Supreme Court ordered police to produce former senator Faisal Raza Abidi before the court for using derogatory language against the country’s top judge.