Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui has claimed that an agency approached the IHC Chief Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi to ensure that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz remain in jail till the elections.

While addressing at the Rawalpindi Bar Association, Justice Shaukat said that the agency, which contacted the IHC judge, “did not want Nawaz Sharif and his daughter out of the prison until after the elections.” So the agency asked the IHC chief justice to “not include Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on the bench that would hear Sharifs’ appeals.”

The IHC judge also stated that the judiciary is equally responsible for the current prevailing situation in the country. Justice Shaukat said, “The judiciary and institutions are equally responsible for the situation in the country.

“If I was to hold someone accountable for the current situation of the country, I would say that, between the government, army, judiciary and bureaucracy, the judiciary is 50 per cent to blame,” he said, adding that the rest 50 per cent of the blame can be distributed between the rest of the institutions.

The IHC judge further claimed that he was aware of the place where the accountability court proceedings’ files go every day. “IHC’s administrative control over the accountability court was removed so that no IHC judge can go and take a look at the case files,” he claimed.

“Even the media has bowed down to these powers,” he said. Siddiqui also claimed that the media, for their ads have stopped telling the truth. “The media is sent directions and they just follow them. The truth, the things that the people should know about, is kept hidden by the media due to the instructions that they are sent,” he said.

The IHC added by saying that judiciary and the media are the voice of people; and if their lips are sealed, then that country cannot be free.

“I’m risking my life by telling you this, but I was told that if I give verdicts according the liking of an agency, the references against me would have been dissolved and I would be made Chief Justice by September,” he further claimed. The IHC judge said that, “To that I replied, I would rather give my life away than giving a false verdict.”

“Every time I pass a judgment in some crucial case, a campaign starts claiming that there are corruption charges against me,” he said. “I want to present myself for accountability for a while now, as only the bar can hold me accountable and there have been no corruption charges against me till date,” he further stated.

“I humbly request the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to conduct an open trial against me and invite lawyers to see if there is any truth in the corruption allegations. If any corruption charges are proven I will resign,” Justice Siddiqui continued. Justice Siddiqui, with complete confidence, said, “I do not care about my job as one cannot become a judge through the post by through just ways.”