Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Justice Asif Saeed Khosa has on Wednesday claimed that he had never called anyone as ‘Godfather’ or ‘Sicilian mafia’ in the Panama case.

In an exchange with Deputy Attorney General Amir Rehman, Justice Khosa said that he had referred to the terms because of the threats that Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Nehal Hashmi had made for the judges ahead of the decision.

On the other hand, Justice Dost Mohammad went on to claim that Godfather was in fact a heroic character and that he had been taken negatively only despite the fact that Godfather (the character) used to take from the rich and distribute it among the poor.

It is pertinent to mention here that the ousted premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz have been criticising the judges over their remarks ever since the Panama case judgment was announced.

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Also read: ‘All institutions must function within constitutional limits without interference’

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Recently, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has also termed these words as ‘unacceptable for public representatives’ during an interview and while addressing a ceremony.

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb had also criticised the use of the words, terming them ‘negation of the mandate of the people’ while addressing the parliament on Tuesday.

Marriyum said that the judiciary commanded respect because it was custodian of the law and the Constitution and a protector and guarantor of the dignity and honour of the citizens. She said that the prestige and honour of the court was not vitiated by uttering of one sentence by somebody.

She said that giving the epithet of godfather and Sicilian mafia to an elected prime minister was a negation of the mandate of the people. An elected prime minister was sent home with one stoke of the pen but a person who consigned the Constitution to the waste paper basket was not arraigned in the court, she added.