Former Information Minister Senator Pervez Rashid Monday termed the hearing of corruption references filed against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif 'a hijacked trial.' Talking to media persons outside the accountability court, Rashid said, "It is not an open trial, in fact, it is a hijacked trial. The Supreme Court will tell you who hijacked it as the implementation of laws is its mandate."
He said it is unfortunate that despite holding the power, the authority to take decisions lies with "others." He said Nawaz Sharif became the prime minister for the third time and still he appeared before the court to respect the democracy, but now closing the court has clarified that the actual authority lies with someone else.
He said that the court lockdown has clearly shown that in the last 70-year history of Pakistan, the "power rests with someone while the authority is enjoyed by the other." He said that the Supreme Court must take notice of this. He said, "Today we are paying the price for our efforts for democracy in the country. And we will continue to pay this price."
Without mentioning the name of former President General Pervez Musharraf (retd), who is also facing a number of court cases, he said a "criminal has absconded and an innocent is in the court."
When asked why the then Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan facilitated the exit of the former military ruler out of the country, he said, "Nisar couldn't help us, how could he help him in his release?"
State Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage, Marriyum Aurangzeb also condemned what happened outside the accountability court [of disallowing media and lawyers from attending the hearing]. She outrageously said that no order can be entertained from the back doors against the writ of the government. She further said that the government's writ has been challenged now, which is altogether not good for the democracy. Responding to a question, she said the court proceedings should be open as the people want to see as how the proceedings are moving forward in the references filed against the former prime minister.
Meanwhile, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said that the accountability court judge and Supreme Court's monitoring judge should take notice of this situation. "Today we have seen a very unfortunate situation. We can see neither justice being served in the higher courts, nor here," he said. Rafique said that he thinks that the situation is because of faulty local arrangements rather than orders from any high-ups.