Barbs fly in NA over affidavit controversy

ISLAMABAD:

Barbs flew in the National Assembly on Tuesday as controversy over the remarks of the former chief judge of the apex court of Gilgit-Baltistan regarding former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar echoed in the house once again, forcing the deputy speaker to adjourn the session without addressing any agenda item.

The issue came up under heated discussion when PML-N's Mian Javed Latif demanded that the allegations of the former G-B chief justice Rana Shamim must be investigated in the parliament.

He recalled that former judge Shaukat Siddiqui had also made a statement on record in the Supreme Court four months back as to how attempts were made to influence him.

The PML-N leader said that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has also taken notice of the media reports on the affidavit of former top judge of G-B, demanding that a committee comprising members of this parliament should be constituted to probe the matter of the affidavit of the former CJ of G-B,” he demanded.

He questioned as to why the matter was being persistently buried under the rug for decades, adding that the national history was replete with horrifying examples of how dissent was silenced and atrocities were meted out to those who questioned the powers that be. “In this country, there has been a longstanding war between the democratic voice and undemocratic forces.”

He stressed that it was a matter of national interest since a judge had made serious allegations against another judge.

Concurring with the PML-N leader, MNA Mohsin Dawar maintained that the matter indeed merited a parliamentary investigation so that the truth can be ascertained. He regretted that certain people in the country were treated with exemption with regards to accountability, adding that unless and until superior judges and military generals were held accountable, justice and smooth functioning of democracy wasn’t possible.

Referring to the statements made by government ministers in the wake of the allegations, Dawar wondered why the ministers chose to defend the former chief justice against another judge.

“An Investigation launched into this matter and the parliament must not be made dysfunctional regarding it,” he said, adding that the parliament should also be informed about the developments in Afghanistan.

Federal minister Murad Saeed ridiculed the PML-N leaders and said that a “biased narrative” was being built even before the case was taken up for the hearing. He pointed out that the former CJP judge Rana Shamim was appointed during the tenure of PML-N, echoing the concerns voiced in statements by other members of the ruling party who alleged that the allegations were part of a “conspiracy” orchestrated by PML-N.

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“Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif failed to provide money trail of his properties and there are no receipts of the ill-gotten money,” he said, reminding the opposition members that Panamagate was not plotted or brought to light by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“Maryam Nawaz had made baseless lofty claims that she owned property neither in London nor in Pakistan. But when the apex court asked for the details to account for the property, a letter from Qatar was instead presented as evidence,” he said, recalling that the PML-N had made an attempt to intimidate the JIT members.

“Contrary to that, the entire world is a witness to the fact that Imran Khan made public all his assets earnings and gave a money trail of forty years.”

Taking a jibe at Nawaz Sharif, Murad Saeed said the former entered the realm of politics with the help of military dictators. “Whereas PM Imran ‘s government was a result of his decades-long struggle, which was never aided by any military general,” he said.

PML-N’s Nosheen Iftikhar said the Election Commission of Pakistan’s report on the NA-75 Daska by-polls should also be further investigated and culprits should be punished as per the law.

Shahida Akhtar Ali of the JUI-F said that the members of the house were burning precious time in trading barbs at the cost of important discussion. She said that the government was going to present its wide-ranging electoral reforms tomorrow in the joint sitting of the parliament.

“The matter of the use of EVMs needs to be discussed and the opposition should deliberate on it. The ECP has also raised its objections regarding the use of electronic machines and giving the voting right to overseas Pakistanis,” Shahida Akhtar said, adding that the overseas Pakistanis were indeed entitled to the right but the manner in which all of it was being carried forward was questionable.

Speaking over the Cooperative Market fire in Karachi, PPP’s Shazia Marri maintained that members of her political party including Administrator Karachi Murtaza Wahab were present during the fire extinguishing operation.