PM Imran wants justice system revamped

PTI Minister says judicial reforms have become imperative

ISLAMABAD:

Information Minister Shibli Faraz on Saturday underlined the need for judicial reforms in the country, claiming that the previous governments of the PPP and the PML-N had damaged national institutions by using them for personal gains.

The minister’s statement came in the wake of an administrative committee of the Lahore High Court recently sacking former accountability court judge Arshad Malik for misconduct.

 “The prime minister has sought suggestions from the authorities concerned so that a speedy justice system could be made possible,” the minister said while talking to a private TV channel.

“Imran Khan is the only leader who can introduce reforms in the country,” he added.

The minister maintained that the culture of nepotism promoted by the PPP and PML-N governments was responsible for the current state of national institutions. “PPP and PML-N leaders appointed their own people to different institutions and damaged the institutions.”

On the sacking of judge Arshad Malik, the minister said PML-N had pressured judges in the past.

The LHC committee dismissed the judge from service for misconduct on the basis of an investigation into a video released by PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz showing the judge ‘confessing’ to convicting Nawaz under duress. The inquiry report declared Malik guilty.

The judge had confessed to being in a compromising situation but claimed that he was trapped after being sedated.

The minister said opposition parties had floated the idea of a ‘minus one’ formula against PM Imran because he had initiated the accountability process to purge the society of the corrupt elements involved in looting public money.

He also criticised the opposition parties for trying to create trouble before the National Assembly passed the budget for the fiscal year 2020-21.

To a question, he said credit went to the government for making the sugar report public. To a question about the disclosure of pilots with dubious credentials, Shibli said the government was tried its best to address the matter.

Speaking in the National Assembly recently, the prime minister had dismissed rumours of a ‘minus one’ formula and vowed to go after mafias and cartels. He also announced his government plan to embarking on a plan of massive institutional reforms.

The premier noted that the Pakistan Steel Mills, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and the Pakistan Railways were incurring losses and the government had paid Rs34 billion in salaries to the employees of non-functional PSM alone since coming into power.

“The PPP that destroyed the PSM is now talking about its restoration,” he said.

Speaking about the PIA, he said, it has seen 10 chief executives in the last eleven years.

"A [sports] team is also ruined if its captain is changed so often," said Imran using sports analogy. “The country cannot move forward without reforms. It was about time to take decisions.”

(With input from APP)