ISLAMABAD - Once again lashing out at the superior judiciary for its “double standards”, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said that on the one hand no one dared to bring back the dictator who had abrogated the Constitution to face the courts, while on the other hand fresh references were filed against him.

Talking to media persons at the Punjab House after appearing before the accountability court on Tuesday, he suspected the motives behind filing of fresh reference against him.

Nawaz asked why a supplementary reference was filed against him?

He said that the people of Pakistan had not accepted his disqualification verdict by the apex court, and the decision of his ouster had left a negative impact on the pace of development and overall economic progress because since his removal the stock exchange was going down. Nawaz said first he was ousted from office on a trivial matter of holding iqama (residence permit) and now one of the members of the bench was monitoring the NAB court trial, and questioned that in these circumstance how could one expect justice from the court.

To a question on his differences with his younger brother, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif the former premier said that it was an old desire of certain quarters.

Since President Ghulam Ishaq Khan-era people wanted to create differences between him and his younger brother but all such desires and wishes had dashed down, he said. “Now, I think people should stop expecting so,” Nawaz added.

He said that the NAB officials were visiting abroad to seek some proof against him and his family members as after disqualifying him on a trivial matter, the judiciary wanted face-saving and was working on a plan to get them convicted by the NAB court as it would be the only way to provide them an honourable exit from the matter.

The ousted prime minister said that he was fighting for the right of the people and to uphold the sanctity of their vote and to establish a system of justice for all.

He said that in his quest the party was firmly standing by him and so did the people of Pakistan who wanted to see blanket accountability, rule of law, and economic progress and prosperity in the country.

To a question about the pendency of cases in the lower courts and the weak judicial system, former prime minister said that he would separately speak on the issue on some other occasion.

However, he expressed his firm belief that with the support of the people of Pakistan his party would put the things in the right order.

Without naming the chief justice of Pakistan who recently had visited hospitals in Lahore, Nawaz Sharif said that those visiting hospitals should also put their own house in order and clear the huge backlog of cases pending in the lower courts.

To a question about appointment of the NAB chairman, Nawaz Sharif declined to comment.