I refused to guide Imran on NAB cases: Saqib Nisar

KARACHI: Former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar has said that Maryam Nawaz is ridiculing him by calling him “Baba Dam”.

In an interview with Jang, Justice (retired) Nisar said that he was being targeted because he stood for the cause of justice. Talking about what he called an “anti-judiciary statement” of Maryam Nawaz, he said that she wanted to create a situation of political strife in the country and her aim was to achieve her vested interests.

The ex-CJP was of the view that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had nothing in hand to achieve its political agenda and that was why its leaders had targeted the judiciary. He said the PMLN had hoped that in the capacity of the chief justice, he would honour his past ties with them, but instead he had adhered to the cause of justice and that was why he had been targeted since his retirement.

Talking about Maryam Nawaz, he said that it was a tragedy for someone when their offspring became ill-mannered and didn’t know how to talk about any elder person.

The former CJP said that his children were amused by seeing that he had again been revived by the PMLN. He said that he didn’t have any answer to the political lies of Maryam Nawaz and the PMLN. He said two attempts of the PMLN in the past to defame him had failed. “The first attempt was made through a fake audio recording and the second was made through Justice Shamim,” he added.

He disclosed that Imran Khan while meeting him had requested him to provide guidelines about the NAB cases but he refused. He maintained that he was not at all in touch with serving judges in the country.

Justice (retired) Nisar said that he had met Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan twice. “The first meeting was held when he was the prime minister and the second was held afterwards when he was no more PM.”

He said that in the first meeting, Khan had sought his guidance on the issue of cases pertaining to the National Accountability Bureau as they were going in vain. He said Khan had also sought his advice to suggest a suitable replacement for Shehzad Akbar, who had the ability to conclude accountability cases.

He said that he hadn’t offered any advice to Khan while suggesting that he should have taken such decisions on his own. The former CJP said that in his second meeting, he had advised Khan not to talk about the opening courts at midnight.

He said that he had suggested that Khan should refrain from unduly criticising the judiciary so as not to ruin it. The former CJP said that he had met former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa twice. He said the former army chief had met for the first time to give a donation while the second meeting was held sometime earlier in Lahore.

He quoted General (retired) Bajwa as saying that he had come to Lahore as he wanted to meet his friends. He maintained that he had not discussed General (retired) Bajwa during his meeting with Imran Khan. He conceded that he had met Gen Faiz Hameed several times. He said that while serving as the CJP he had met him on the issue of missing persons while later he continued to meet him.