Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif Thursday said that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, if he deems fit, can seek an explanation from Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar over his remarks made earlier in the day about their Tuesday’s meeting.

Nawaz was referring to CJP’s comments made on Thursday during the hearing of a case wherein he said he did not lose anything and only gained from his meeting with Prime Minister Abbasi.

Talking to journalists at the accountability court, the former prime minister said the chief justice should not have said what he did. Regarding the CJP’s comments that the prime minister had come to him ‘with a plea’, the PML-N supremo said he hadn’t talked to PM Abbasi about this meeting so far. “However, every state institution should stay within its constitutional limits and respect others,” he added.

Nawaz claimed that he never interfered in the business of any other institution. “I never violated my constitutional mandate,” he said, advising other institutions to do the same.

The PML-N chief recalled that Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh had once said that there was a space vacant for Nawaz Sharif in Adiala Jail. “It was highly inappropriate to use such terms for a prime minister. Still I remained quiet,” he said.

Responding to a question pertaining to NAB references filed against him, Nawaz said that the Wednesday’s statement by Wajid Zia in the accountability court had vindicated his stance. “We should open the suitcases brought to the court and see what’s inside them,” he added.

Published in Daily Times, March 30^th 2018.