PTI got most relief from courts in recent past

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) have got much more relief from the courts as compared to its rival political parties particularly since the apex court announced its Panamagate verdict in July 2017.

Premier Imran Khan urged the top judges to restore public confidence through uniform application of the law in the backdrop of the Lahore High Court's (LHC) order to allow former PM Nawaz Sharif to fly abroad for treatment without submitting indemnity bonds as insisted by the government.

Interestingly, other major political parties - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) - had been making similar complaints and calling for uniform application of the law in the past.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf is apparently the biggest beneficiary of Panamagate verdict passed by the apex court's five-judge larger bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa.

The court had ousted Nawaz Sharif and decided to supervise trial against members of the Sharif family.

Even due to the SC implementation bench's deadline, the trial court convicted both Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz and they were sent jail before the July 2018 general election. Later, a former high court judge alleged that judicial proceedings were manipulated in Panama case.

During the last year of former CJP Mian Saqib Nisar, the PML-N faced a tough time in various ways. Three PML-N lawmakers Danyal Aziz, Talal Chaudhry and Nihal Hashmi were disqualified in contempt cases.

A number of PML-N leaders like Nawaz, Shehbaz Sharif, Saad Rafique, Ahsan Iqbal, Pervaiz Rashid were summoned in connection with different governance issues and were grilled. The PML-N lawyers believe that Justice Nisar's remarks severely damaged the party's reputation during the time when they were running a campaign for the July 25, 2018 polls.