ISLAMABAD - Supreme Court Bar Association President Rasheed A Rizvi has said that the nomination of the apex court judge to supervise NAB proceedings against the Sharif family was against the independence of the judiciary.

He said this while talking to Supreme Court reporters here on Friday. He said every lawyer has the right to talk and criticize the apex court judgments. Positive criticism is healthy for the court, he said adding they also have a lot of respect for the lower judiciary.

Rizvi rejected the notion that the Panama Leaks judgment was handed down under the pressure of any institution.

He said that it was the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz that had opposed the exclusion of Article 62(1)(f) from the Constitution, under which the top court disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for not disclosing receivables in his nomination papers. He said that they should tell the people on whose behalf they had opposed the exclusion of Article 62 from the Constitution.

The SCBA president said the PML-N government allowed former dictator Gen (retd), Pervez Musharraf, to leave the country, while the Supreme Court had asked the government to clarify whether his name had been put on the exit control list.

He said that it was the PML-N government that strengthened the establishment but now it was accusing it. He said almost every politician had remained part of the establishment.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon, Vice-Chairman Pakistan Bar Council and Hafeez-ur-Rehman, Chairman Executive Committee PBC, have expressed grave concern over the vilification campaign against the Supreme Court after the Panama Leaks judgment.

The PBC in a handout deplored the recent statements of some individuals targeting the Supreme Court and maligning the armed forces. It said the calculated and motivated move at the behest of the ruling party was highly deplorable.

They said any move to undermine the prestige and dignity of Supreme Court and the armed forces will be resisted with full force and the legal fraternity will not hesitate to go to any extent to protect the judiciary, which is last hope of the nation.