ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday that a leaked video of a former accountability court judge sacked over a scandal relating to the jailing of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on corruption charges was of no legal use unless established to be a genuine piece of evidence in a court of law.
At a press conference flanked by senior leaders of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) party last month, the leader’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, showed clips of a video of a meeting between accountability judge Arshad Malik and PMLN leader Nasir Butt in which the judge, Maryam alleged, had confessed that he was forced to issue an “unjust” verdict against Sharif by ‘people’ who blackmailed him with a “personal video.”
The video of Malik’s conversation with Butt was ostensibly filmed in secret, without his permission.
Last year, Sharif was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined $25 million on corruption charges by Judge Malik who ruled that the three-time prime minister was unable to prove the source of income that had led to his ownership of the Al-Azizia steel mill in Saudi Arabia. Under Pakistani law, this is taken to prove corruption. On the same day, Malik acquitted Sharif in a second case relating to Flagship Investments, a company established by his son, Hasan Nawaz, that owns luxury properties in Britain.
“The relevant video cannot be of any legal benefit to Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif unless it is properly produced before the Islamabad High Court … [and] its genuineness is established and then the same is proved in accordance with the law for it to be treated as evidence in the case,” the top court ruled on Friday.
The Supreme Court also listed at least 21 requirements for the leaked video to be proved a genuine piece of evidence before the Islamabad High Court, where Sharif’s appeal against the Al-Azizia verdict is pending adjudication.
The court said that if the video was proved to be genuine through a legal process, the Islamabad High Court could either “reappraise the evidence itself” or remand the case to the trial court for “re-deciding.”
“We find that it may not be an appropriate stage for this court to interfere in the matter of the relevant video and its effects,” the court ruled.
In Friday’s ruling, the Supreme Court also admonished the sacked accountability judge, saying “his sordid and disgusting conduct has made thousands of honest, upright, fair and proper judges in the country hang their heads in shame.” The court added that the Lahore High Court should initiate disciplinary proceedings against Malik.
Malik denies all charges and says representatives of the Sharif family had offered him bribes repeatedly to rule in the former prime minister’s favor and also threatened him but he did not oblige. The Sharif family denies the accusations.
Top court rules judge video legally useless for Nawaz Sharif unless proven genuine
Top court rules judge video legally useless for Nawaz Sharif unless proven genuine
- Supreme Court says corruption verdict against jailed ex-PM can be sent for “re-deciding” if video proven authentic
- Says accountability judge’s “sordid” conduct had brought disrepute to entire Pakistani judiciary
Sindh assembly passes resolution rejecting move to separate Karachi
- Chief Minister Shah cites constitutional safeguards against altering provincial boundaries
- Calls to separate Karachi intensified amid governance concerns after a mall fire last month
ISLAMABAD: The provincial assembly of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Saturday passed a resolution rejecting any move to separate Karachi, declaring its territorial integrity “non-negotiable” amid political calls to carve the city out as a separate administrative unit.
The resolution comes after fresh demands by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other voices to grant Karachi provincial or federal status following governance challenges highlighted by the deadly Gul Plaza fire earlier this year that killed 80 people.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated city, is the country’s main commercial hub and contributes a significant share to the national economy.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah tabled the resolution in the assembly, condemning what he described as “divisive statements” about breaking up Sindh or detaching Karachi.
“The province that played a foundational role in the creation of Pakistan cannot allow the fragmentation of its own historic homeland,” Shah told lawmakers, adding that any attempt to divide Sindh or separate Karachi was contrary to the constitution and democratic norms.
Citing Article 239 of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution, which requires the consent of not less than two-thirds of a provincial assembly to alter provincial boundaries, Shah said any such move could not proceed without the assembly’s approval.
“If any such move is attempted, it is this Assembly — by a two-thirds majority — that will decide,” he said.
The resolution reaffirmed that Karachi would “forever remain” an integral part of Sindh and directed the provincial government to forward the motion to the president, prime minister and parliamentary leadership for record.
Shah said the resolution was not aimed at anyone but referred to the shifting stance of MQM in the debate while warning that opposing the resolution would amount to supporting the division of Sindh.
The party has been a major political force in Karachi with a significant vote bank in the city and has frequently criticized Shah’s provincial administration over its governance of Pakistan’s largest metropolis.
Taha Ahmed Khan, a senior MQM leader, acknowledged that his party had “presented its demand openly on television channels with clear and logical arguments” to separate Karachi from Sindh.
“It is a purely constitutional debate,” he told Arab News by phone. “We are aware that the Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules the province, holds a two-thirds majority and that a new province cannot be created at this stage. But that does not mean new provinces can never be formed.”
Calls to alter Karachi’s status have periodically surfaced amid longstanding complaints over governance, infrastructure and administrative control in the megacity, though no formal proposal to redraw provincial boundaries has been introduced at the federal level.
