Hudaibiya case being opened under pressure of 'influential people': Iqbal

ISLAMABAD: In an apparent criticism of the Supreme Court verdict in the Panama Papers case, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal said there were no precedents for the Supreme Court constituting Panama joint investigation team of ‘specific people,’ appointment of a monitoring judge to oversee NAB proceedings, and reopening of decade-old Hudaibiya Paper Mills case.

“We don’t criticize the judiciary. We respect it and accept its verdict, but we have reservations about it,” he said while addressing a press conference in Lahore.

Our reservations were not addressed, he said, adding that it happens in martial law that you don’t have right to appeal a court verdict.

The interior minister claimed Hudaibiya Paper Mills case is being reopened under the pressure from some ‘influential persons’. If old cases were allowed to be reopened, it would lead to anarchy, he said and added if the case will be reopened under duress it would not fulfill the requirements of justice.

Iqbal said that influential persons were exerting undue pressure on the national graft watchdog to file references against the Sharif family.

Without naming any institution, he said, some institutions were intruding into the jurisdiction of the parliament. They should work within their constitutional limits, he added.

He further said, “through a WhatsApp call, specific people were chosen to investigate the Panama case. It was the judgment which set new precedents.”

The minister said after the World XI matches in Lahore, international cricket will also be hosted in Karachi soon.

He appreciated the role of the law enforcement agencies, especially Punjab police, for maintaining law and order during the World XI matches in Lahore and said with the tour of international players stigma of terrorism was washed away from the country.