Crisis country had been grappling with in recent times b/w less from Zaman Park & more from CJP Justice Uamr Ata Bandial’s chair:  Maryam Nawaz

ISLAMABAD, May 15 (SABAH): Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President and Party’s Chief Organizer Maryam Nawaz Sharif said on Monday the crisis the country had been grappling with in recent times brewed less from PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s residence in Zaman Park and more from Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Uamr Ata Bandial’s chair.

It comes days after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted PTI chief Imran Khan relief in multiple cases as CJP Bandial had declared Imran Khan’s arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case “illegal”.

Addressing the thousands of participants of the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s sit-in outside the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Maryam Nawaz said it all started when an irrelevant suo-motu notice was taken, constitution was rewritten, and [Article] 63-A was misinterpreted. “The building [of the SC] is meant to strengthen the democracy and bring “terrorists” to accountability”, she added.

“It indicted former PM Nawaz Sharif but when a culprit of Rs60 billion [Imran Khan] appeared, he was welcomed,” she decried.

Did they [SC judges] ever send any dictator home, she asked. “Now when the military is not willing to impose martial law, and standing beside the constitution and democracy, this building is imposing judicial martial law,” she added.

Free and fair elections could not be held until Umar Ata Bandial was the CJP, she said. “[CJP Bandial] Tender your resignation and go home,” she added.

She said she wanted to ask CJP Bandial whether he was happy seeing large swathes of “real people” on the Constitution Avenue [the place the PDM is staging the protest at] or not. “No one damaged anything during the protest,” she added.

Maryam Nawaz went on to say that the PDM respected the SC adding that it did not want to stage protest because the court was the source of everything the country got. “We will only talk about judges who facilitated Imran Khan,” she added. “Whenever the country suffers damage, it comes through this building,” she claimed.

She continued by saying that the pen CJ Bandial used to back Imran Khan derived its power from people and their elected representatives, adding that ill-intentioned people were sitting in the SC.

The PML-N chief organiser said CJP Bandial abused his power to change the 4-3 verdict to a 3-2 verdict. “Why should we agree with verdict that was based on ill intentions and lies,” she asked. “You facilitated Imran Khan in a way that you were called “politician in robes” by your fellow judges and no one else”, she said.

CJP Bandial dethroned former Punjab CM Hamza Shehbaz Sharif and launched a CM who dissolved the assemblies afterward, adding that President Dr. Arif Alvi also connived in it. “However, the biggest character of that conspiracy was CJP Bandial,” she added.

The chief justice was asked if he would announce elections after the assemblies were dissolved [in Punjab and KP] and he agreed to it, she claimed. “I ask CJP Bandial if people were eager for elections, why did not they come out to vote on May 14,” she asked.

She said another culprit was former CJP Asif Saeed Khan Khosa who wiped Nawaz Sharif away from politics. “They [SC judges] do not safeguard Imran han only but they are corrupt themselves too,” she added.

Maryam Nawaz claimed that the Twin tower in Islamabad was the clear evidence of SC judge Justice Ijazul Ahsan’s corruption. “Another SC judge Mazahir Naqvi is under investigation for his corruption and CJP Bandial is openly leading them,” she added.

Highlighting attacks on security installments, she said they [SC judges] had been feeding Imran Khan and he did what even Pakistan’s enemies could not do. “However, what disappoints me the most is the attack on Corps Commander’s house in Lahore,” she added. Quaid-e-Azam’s house in India was safe, she lamented, but his house in his country was not safe.

We also crticised the establishment and named Generals. “GHQ was attacked two times; first by the TTP and for the second time by Imran Khan,” she added. Imran Khan trained masses in the guise of his bruised leg, she said. It took six months to rain them, she claimed. Citing PTI’s attacks on the PTV and the parliament in 2014, she said “your history is replete with terrorism”.

She said Imran Khan suggested DG ISPR make a political party. “The ISPR must be thinking that they should first settle the score with the party [the PTI] they had made in 2014,” she mocked.

No one ever committed contempt of court as much as Bandial did, she said. “If the parliament ever passes the bill, CJP Bandial will be the first to face it,” she added. Bail law was never mocked in the world the way it had been done in the SC, she claimed.

She asserted that legislation should remain the responsibility of the Parliament, stating, “It is not your [judges] responsibility to stop it.” By emphasising the role of the elected representatives, the PML-N leader highlighted the need for a robust democratic process.

Showing her respect for the Supreme Court and the Constitution, she criticised the tarnished image of the revered institution, attributing the blame to what she termed as “Imrandari”. “This building was tarnished not by ‘Imandari but by Imrandari’, she stated, emphasising her disappointment with the current state of affairs.

Maryam also expressed her reluctance to protest at the Supreme Court, advocating for democracy to be strengthened through the proper functioning of the institution. She emphasised the importance of preserving the integrity of the building and called for the restoration of democratic values.

Marayma stated that her party respects Pakistan’s law and Constitution, but this building, the Supreme Court, was giving verdicts which were causing the country’s destruction.

She pointed out that the top court should have given justice to the oppressed and strengthened Parliament, but instead, it disqualified a prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who was elected by the people.

She accused it of “murdering” justice, and said that it gave its certification to all the martial laws that were imposed in Pakistan.

Maryam criticised the country’s top court and some of its judges for their alleged “facilitation” of Imran Khan, saying that this was the same building which disqualified a person who came to power three times with people’s votes.

She called for a fair and unbiased political climate, where individuals receive equal treatment. She promised that the elections will occur on their time after the CJP is retired.