Nawaz says people inside and outside courts questioning his disqualification

ISLAMABAD: Former premier Nawaz Sharif says he respects state institutions, including the judiciary.

Speaking to journalists on the premises of the accountability court hearing graft cases against him, Sharif lamented what he said the double-standards of courts.

He said the verdict that dislodged him from the office of the prime minister was unfair in his eyes and those of the nation.

Slamming the apex court, he said the judges relied on “Black Law Dictionary” to oust him.

The PML-N supreme leader said even his arch-rival Imran Khan declared the decision weak and that people inside and outside courts had begun to question the verdict.

Quoting a Supreme Court judge, he said even the judge acknowledged that the Panama case involved the ruling family’s London properties, but he was disqualified for holding an Iqama (UAE work permit).

Sharif said the verdicts the apex court gave in other cases were also evident to the people. Imran Khan admitted to having established an offshore company, yet he was declared honest and trustworthy, he added.

He said PTI leader Jahangir Tareen was disqualified but no JIT at par with that constituted in his case was formed.

There must not be double-standards, he said, claiming that those who ousted him for holding the Iqama prepared the corruption references against him.