ISLAMABAD - A day after the Supreme Court verdict in the Panama Leaks case carried a damning observation against the anti-graft body chief, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced to file a reference in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), seeking removal of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry.

“The PTI has decided to file a reference against the NAB chief before the SDC under Article 209 of the Constitution as he has intrigued with the government in hiding the massive corruption of the Sharif family,” PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said during a joint presser along with party lawmakers Murad Saeed and Shibli Faraz here on Friday.

Fawad argued that the Panama leaks verdict made it clear that the NAB chairman failed to investigate the money scandal (involving the Sharif family).

He said that his party had full confidence in Chief Justice of Pakistan. He asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down on moral grounds as the PM has lost the moral authority to stay in office while being investigated.

“This has to be seen whether the present five-member bench will supervise the investigation of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) or a new bench will look into the matter,” he said. Giving a party stance, he said that the present bench should look into the probe of the JIT.

Fawad stated that all judges rejected the defence of Nawaz Sharif and declared that he did not remain honest with the Supreme Court and the nation. He stated that Nawaz and his children would appear before the JIT as alleged criminals.

Mocking the PML-N, he said that his party was translating the verdict in Urdu so that the ruling party could understand it before distributing sweets.

“The judges have stated in the verdict that the Qatari prince’s letter contradicted the claims of Hasan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz. In the light of the decision, Qatari Prince Hammad Bin Jassim was involved in illegal business throughout the world,” he said.

 

PTI Deputy Secretary General Murad Saeed hoped that the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case would also be reopened in the light of the verdict that would open the chequered character of the Sharif family.

PTI Senator Shibli Faraz said that the state machinery and institutions have paralysed and ethical and moral codes were being violated by PM by sticking to office even after the observations of the two judges of the bench. He said that the PTI had decided to take up the issue in both houses of the Parliament.

Separately, the PTI announced to hold a big rally in Islamabad next Friday, demanding resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

“I am going to hold a rally in Islamabad next Friday where we will demand resignation from the prime minister,” Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan said while talking to reporters outside the Parliament House. He also requested the masses to also demand resignation from PM.

Khan said that the proposed JIT could not hold a transparent inquiry into the alleged offshore wealth of the ruling family as long as Nawaz Sharif remained the prime minister.

he said that the resignation demand was not unusual as it was not possible for state institutions to investigate a sitting prime minister. “If these institutions had been working, they would have controlled corruption already,” he said.

Declaring observations of the five-member bench as historic, Khan said that two senior judges of the apex court, who are going to become the chief justices in the future, have asked for disqualification of the PM for his lies. “All five judges have rejected the defence of the PML-N, it relied upon in the case,” he said. He questioned how the party would face the masses in the light of the comments made in the verdict.

The PTI chief said that PML-N supporters should have read the full judgement rather than distributing sweets. “This is for the first time in Pakistan’s history that such comments have been passed against a sitting prime minister.”

Khan also said that it was the democratic right of every parliamentarian to speak on the floor of the National Assembly but he was not given an opportunity to speak.

The PTI has also announced to thrash out public campaigns across the country. According to PTI Central Media Department, the party will hold public rallies in Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, Nowshehra, Dadu, Sargodha and Attock respectively in the upcoming month to keep the Panama issue alive.