Defiant Nawaz Sharif gives another raging speech against judiciary

LAHORE: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday said that the  court of masses will exonerate him from all charges. 

The deposed prime minister was addressing a convention of the ruling party’s lawyers here at Aiwan-e-Iqbal.

In his latest raging speech, Sharif said that the top court had never issued such directives of keeping a probe under its supervision in any case other than Panamagate.

“Is there any public investigation in which members of intelligence and security agencies were appointed?” he asked while addressing the lawyers.

Sharif in his speech claimed that different verdicts were given by the apex court in Panamagate case. “One was announced on April 20 while another on July 28,” he added.

Posing another question to the attendees, he asked: “Is there any three-member bench which had ever supervised the entire probe in a case from beginning till end?”

“It is the masses who have to finally exonerate me from the charges. I am fighting a democracy case in a bigger court,” Sharif further said.

The deposed prime minister told the gathering that he had voluntarily presented himself for an investigation as the Panama Papers emerged in 2016 despite his name was not in the papers.

“No authority responded to my offer for several months and then they all came up together with variant justification,” he asserted.

“Can judges be added to a bench once they have given their verdict already?” He asked, adding: “Can the National Accountability Bureau be given special instructions?”

He said he stepped down in compliance with the court’s orders despite having a reservation on the verdict.

“I am not concerned about the verdict with regard to its effect on me but I do care about the precedent that will be set in the country,” he thundered.

“First a president removed me, and then a dictator and now a court has disqualified me,” he lamented.

The former premier and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo reached the venue earlier to attend the All Pakistan Lawyers’ Convention.

Sharif was accompanied by Punjab Governor Rafique Rajwana and Federal Law Minister Zahid Hamid, among other officials. 

Prior to Sharif’s address, lawyers’ leaders addressed the convention.