Affidavit saga: ‘New exposé punctures Sharifs’ anti-judiciary campaign’

The latest revelations that former chief justice of Gilgit-Baltistan Rana Shamim had signed the much-talked-about affidavit in the office of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in London has sparked a debate over the dubious role of Sahrifs in generating controversies, bursting the “anti-judiciary narrative” of the family.

According to a news report published on Sunday by The Express Tribune, the former chief judge of G-B “took the oath and signed an affidavit in the office of none other than Mian Nawaz Sharif, trying to incriminate former Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar and honourable sitting judges of Islamabad High Court”.

In the evidence available, Charles Guthrie, a UK Solicitor confirmed that ‘the judge guy’ was at ‘Marble Arch’.

Read more: Rana Shamim signed affidavit in Nawaz’s office, reveals notary

Stanhope Place, Marble arch was listed on Companies House records as one of the offices of Flagship Developments Limited, of which Hasan Nawaz Sharif is one of the directors and it has been the central meeting point of a lot of PML-N leadership in London with the former premier.

Nawaz Sharif was given a rare four-week leave from the jail, to visit his doctors in London. Sharif, who was undergoing a 10-year sentence in Panama case, has not returned even after the passage of two years for which he had also been declared an absconder by the court.

The Sharif family had been mired in controversies in the past too, be it is Qatari letter produced by PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz or the trust deed signed by both Maryam and her brother dated February 2006 written in Calibri font when it was not commercially available until 2007.

The new revelations have cast more doubt on the already shady affidavit of Rana Shamim as the case was also being heard by the Islamabad High Court at the time.

“This damning story essentially punctures the Rana Shamim affidavit and puts Sharifs in pretty bad light,” Imtiaz Gul, a prominent journalist and Executive Director of Centre for Research and Security Studies, said.

Supreme Court Advocate and human rights activist Mohammad Azhar Siddique said that the complete credit went to the reporter for accomplishing this task. “Truth has to be revealed,” he said and appreciated the ET scribe for digging out the story.

Commenting on the news, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said the new revelations had once again proved that the Sharif family is a “Sicilian mafia”, exposing how they blackmail the institutions including the judiciary.

Also read: AG writes letter for placing Rana Shamim on no-fly list

The Hashtag #NawazCaughtAgain and #RanaShamim was trending on Twitter with people including experts, media persons and politicians commenting on the exposé.

Adviser to PM on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar said: “Big exposé by Irfan Hashmi affirms what the nation already knows, Sharif family premeditated attack on judiciary to hamper & influence proceedings against unmasked with revelation that Nawaz Sharif had Rana Shamim sign the shady affidavit in his presence in office”.

MNA Sobia Kamal Khan commented that the “forged documents submitted in courts, bringing judiciary in disrepute, money laundering & even treason against state. This is Sharifs & Bhuttos on show”.

“The fugitive fraudster’s crime spree saga continues,” Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul tweeted.

Maazuddin, a social media activist said that after forgery, perjury and fake affidavits or videos to cover up their corruption and money laundering, another fraud by this mafia has surfaced. “This gives grounds for contempt of court, falsified claims & witness tampering,” he commented.

Another Twitter handle namely Natt Sb, wrote: “Nawaz Sharif, the uncrowned king of liars, deceivers and frauds, was once again caught in public”.

Read more IHC receives former G-B top judge’s sealed affidavit

“Some people were quite annoyed at Justice Asif Khosa drawing parallels of this family with the Sicilian mafia. It was probably the most honest depiction of this family and I pray that they never come close to power in Pakistan ever again,” said Zaid Raza, a netizen.

Kashif, another Twitterati, said that during the last few weeks alone it was proven beyond shadow of a doubt that Sharifs manufactured a fake Saqib Nisar audio, got Rana Shamim to sign a false affidavit and had been manipulating and controlling media at taxpayers’ expense. “Sharifs are the biggest mafia this country has seen.”

Special Assistant to PM Malik Amir Dogar said, “Another heinous conspiracy of the Sharif family exposed. The facts came out that Rana Shamim’s affidavit on the honourable judges was signed in the presence of Nawaz Sharif in Nawaz Sharif’s London office”.