Top court indicts minister in contempt case
islamabad — The Supreme Court of Pakistan has indicted a minister in a contempt case for critical speeches he made after the court disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for concealing assets.
Danyal Aziz, a ruling Pakistan Muslim League party leader and minister for privatisation, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.
Justice Musheer Alam read out the charges in court on Tuesday.
According to Dawn online, the bench observed that Aziz was “committed to scandalising the court”.
The SC said that in a September 8 Press conference, Aziz had alleged that an SC judge had prepared a corruption reference after summoning the National
It was said that all this was being done according to a script
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Accountability Bureau’s Lahore team.
In a December 15 speech, Aziz had claimed that the purpose of disqualifying Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen was to save Imran Khan, the court said. Aziz in this speech, while referring to the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif and Khan’s receiving a ‘clean chit’, claimed that the court’s verdict pointed towards political engineering.
“It was said that all this was being done according to a script,” the court observed. A third claim made by Aziz against Justice Ijazul Ahsan on December 31 was also highlighted by the court in the charges framed against the PML-N leader.
The Supreme Court had taken notice of speeches made by Aziz last year and he was charged with accusing the court of bias against > The SC says, Aziz had alleged that an SC judge had prepared a corruption reference after summoning the National Accountability Bureau’s Lahore team. > The court sets a hearing for March 26 for witness testimony. Sharif. The court set a hearing for March 26 for witness testimony. Earlier this year, the court sent ruling party wenator Nihal Hashmi to prison for a month for speaking against the judiciary.
The court disqualified Sharif last year on charges stemming from leaked papers from a Panama law firm. —
Danyal Aziz pleads not guilty to SC charges