ISLAMABAD    -    Minister for Information and Broad­casting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Tuesday said former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar had not only disrespected himself but also his institution with his “contro­versial verdicts and conduct” which somehow indicated his “direct in­volvement in the politics”.

“It is not Maryam Nawaz who has disrespected Saqib Nisar, rath­er he has brought dishonour upon himself. He has admitted his meet­ings with Imran Khan, who after coming into power looted the na­tional exchequer ruthlessly and plunged the country into an eco­nomic quagmire causing high infla­tion and poverty,” the minister said in a news conference.

She said Maryam Nawaz had bravely exposed the political role played by the former CJP and made the evidence in that regard public. “Maryam Nawaz is a source of re­spect for her father as being a brave leader she has the courage to expose such people before the people.” 

It was not merely an allegation as the former chief justice had himself admitted to holding meetings with Imran Khan and nobody had denied it so far, she added, daring Saqib Ni­sar to respond to those allegations in the courts as he better knew what the law stated in that regard.

Saqib Nisar very well knew that what was being said about him was true, she said, referring to his report­ed interview with a private TV chan­nel in which, according to the min­ister, the former CJP had stated that he had not declared Imran Khan as a “full honest and righteous person”. 

“There is no need to make a hue and cry now and if you think you are being defamed then respond to these allegations in the court,” she said while alleging that Saqib Nisar was directly involved in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s campaign for the 2018 general election.

She said there was no such ex­ample in the country’s judicial his­tory that a chief justice was direct­ly involved in politics and exercised his power beyond his mandate. “No law in Pakistan allowed the former chief justice to meet former prime minister Imran Khan who had se­verely harmed the national inter­ests and diplomatic relations of Pa­kistan with the friendly countries during his rule.”

Marriyum said the former chief justice had compromised the fu­ture of upcoming generations with his conduct and “controversial de­cisions”.