LAHORE: PML-N leader and former railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafique on Sunday asked whether the superior court judges who took oath under the PCO [Provisional Constitution Order] can be called saadiq (truthful) and ameen (honest).
“Nawaz Sharif was disqualified because the courts declared that he was not honest and truthful,” Rafique said. “Is everyone else in this country honest and truthful? Are the judges who took oath under PCO [Provisional Constitution Order] are all honest and truthful? Were the military dictators honest and truthful as well?” Rafique asked while addressing a press conference. Now that a precedent has been set, everyone will be called into question, the former minister warned.
He called for an investigation into comments made by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid, alleging that they had ‘maligned the honourable judges’.
“Sheikh Rasheed claimed that we [PML-N] offered billions of rupees to the honourable judges,” he said. “Did anyone question his claims; when and where this money was offered and how he came to know about that?”
He went on to say that during a TV programme, Imran Khan claimed that a judge had ‘requested’ him [Khan] to cancel the sit-in that PTI was planning to hold on November 2, 2016, ‘and come to court instead’. “This is a serious statement and it must be investigated,” Rafique maintained. It was PML-N’s mistake to not repeal Article 62/63 from the constitution, Rafique said.
Published in Daily Times, July 31st , 2017.
