Imran accuses PML-N of taking 'U-turn' after PM's speech questioned in SC

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Monday that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had told the Parliament that he will not choose immunity and stand accountable but his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has taken the 'biggest U-turn of history' as the Panamagate case is being heard by the Supreme Court.

Speaking to reporters outside the SC building after the daily hearing, Khan said the prime minister thought he had 'bluffed' the nation as he had no idea that he will be taken to the Supreme Court.

Accompanying the PTI chief, Fawad Chaudhry said the evidence presented by the PML-Ns counsel was irrelevant to the case.

"He is simply trying to say that the SC should stop hearing the Panama Leaks case," Chaudhry was quoted as saying by Geo News.

Speaking to media representatives later, PML-N leader Daniyal Aziz explained that the PM's counsel referred to cases for article 62 and 63 during the proceedings. "Even PTI accepts that the prime minister has not been named in the Panama Leaks."

PM's counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan, during his arguments presented before the apex court bench, referred to past rulings of the court, discussing the disqualification of former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in detail.

The bench had earlier raised questions over the Prime Minister's speech in the parliament.

Makhdoom Ali Khan argued that Prime Minister Sharif's speech delivered in the National Assembly last year following the Panama leaks has no discrepancies or misstatements, and that even if it had, the country's premier has immunity from prosecution.

According to a report on Dawn, the PM's counsel also maintained that Indian courts have previously overlooked clauses, such as the 'Sadiq' and 'Ameen' clauses, in similar cases. Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh asked the lawyer if Indian law also contained Article 62, to which Makhdoom Ali Khan replied that the words 'Sadiq' and 'Ameen' exist in the Indian constitution as well.

Justice Khosa commented that the parliamentary speech is only a part of the additional documents and the evidence and added that the fate of the case will be determined on the basis of all evidence provided to the court.

The bench later adjourned the hearing till Tuesday.