Ex-CJP Nisar rubbishes media report on keeping Nawaz, Maryam in jail during 2018 elections
Former chief justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Monday rubbished allegations levelled against him by former top judge of Gilgit-Baltistan, Rana Shamim, regarding a collusion to deny bails to former premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz before general elections 2018. An investigative report published today in The News by journalist Ansar Abbasi, quotes Shamim as saying in an alleged affidavit that he witnessed Nasir relaying instructions to a high court judge to not release the the father-daughter duo in the corruption references against them. The document being quoted by The News report has been notarised by Charles D. Guthrie, a London-based solicitor. When reached for comment, Guthrie told Dawn. com he cannot comment on the document. Interestingly, Guthrie had also notarised the forensic report of the video in which the nowdeceased Judge Arshad Malik was secretly recorded as saying that he was blackmailed and put under pressure to convict Nawaz Sharif and that he regretted convicting him. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib tweeted that Guthrie had also notarised the medical reports provided by Nawaz Sharif as the reason for extending his stay in the UK.
According to the alleged affidavit, Shamim claims the ex-CJP had travelled to GB for vacations in 2018 and on one occasion appeared “very disturbed” while speaking to his registrar on the phone, asking him to get in touch with a high court judge.
Shamim said that Nisar was finally able to get in touch with the judge and told him that Nawaz and Maryam must remain in jail until elections are over, after which “he became calm and happily demanded another cup of tea”. According to the document, Shamim said he told Nisar that Nawaz had been falsely implicated, to which the former CJP replied:
Speaking to Dawn.com, the former chief justice vehemently denied the allegations levelled against him and called the report a “self-motivated story”.“I have never spoken to anybody or any high court judge in connection to any matter related to Mian Sahab,” he said.
He added that he could only remember speaking to Shamim when he called him to offer condolences about the latter’s wife passing away. “At the time he had voiced grievances regarding his extension,” Nisar recalled, adding that Shamim could have “any motive” for making the claims. The former chief justice reiterated that the claims were “absolutely untrue”.When asked why he had not issued a public statement on the matter, he replied: “Why should I? [...] I don’t want to stoop to his level”.
An accountability court had on July 6, 2018 — 19 days before the general elections — convicted Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and her husband retired Captain Mohammad Safdar in the Avenfield Apartment reference and handed them jail terms of 10, seven and one years, respectively, for owning assets beyond known sources of income.
NAB had filed the reference regarding the high-end properties in London, along with two others, on the Supreme Court’s directives in the landmark Panamagate verdict which deseated Nawaz as the prime minister.
Nawaz and Maryam were later arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on July 13, 2018 upon their arrival in Lahore from the UK.