LAHORE: PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz has said former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar will have to be answerable for his deeds as he cannot get away with the allegations he is facing.

“Every word of Saqib Nisar [in the audio clip] has compatibility with the events of the last few years. Saqib Nisar cannot deny these events as he will have to be answerable and face accountability,” she tweeted on Saturday.

She also uploaded a video of Imran Khan in which he was saying that Justice Asif Khosa had “requested” him to come to the Supreme Court in connection with the Panama Papers.

Earlier, Ms Nawaz had said ex-CJP Nisar should not hide behind his institution (the judiciary). “At least five testimonies had emerged to substantiate the PML-N’s stance that ex-CJP Nisar was actively involved in the conspiracy to disqualify a thrice-elected prime minister [Nawaz Sharif] and sending him and me to jail,” she said.

The PML-N had also asked Mr Nisar to ‘come clean’ about a leaked audio clip of a conversation purportedly held between him and an unidentified man regarding the conviction of former premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam, though the former CJP has claimed that the voice in the clip was not his.

In the audio clip, a voice, allegedly Mr Nisar’s, can be heard saying: “Let me be a little blunt about it. Unfortunately, here it is the institutions that dictate judgements. In this case, we will have to punish Mian sahab (Nawaz Sharif).

I have been told `we have to bring Khan sahab (Imran Khan) [into power]’.”

He allegedly goes on to add in the conversation, “Punishment will have to be given.” When the man on the other end of the line says Maryam “doesn’t merit a sentence”, Mr Nisar purportedly tells him: “You are absolutely correct. I talked to my friends that something should be done about this, but they did not agree. There will be no independence of the judiciary. So, let it be.”

As the audio leak remained the top trend on social media, the PML-N asked the former CJP to explain his position on it.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2021