SC says it stands for everybody; asks Sharif to have faith in court

Islamabad, Sept 15: The Sup­reme Court (SC) has made it clear that it stood for everybody -- big or small -- when it came to constitutional and legal rights of the citizens. The observation from Justice Asif Saeed Khosa came while addressing senior counsel Khawaja Haris Ahmed, representing former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Mr Haris had expressed apprehension that his client (Mr Nawaz Sharif) might not get fair trial in the Accountability Court since everything in the corruption references against Nawaz Sharif and his children had been attributed to the Supreme Court, according to the media reports today including in the "Dawn". Justice Khosa assured Mr Nawaz Sharif to have trust in the court which had always come to his rescue in the past. Justice Khosa said it was wrong to suggest that the apex court had become a complainant in the corruption references, adding that there would be no fetters on the jurisdiction of the trial court. “There is no need to get apprehensive merely beca­use one decision has come against you,” Justice Khosa observed. A five-judge SC bench headed by Justice Khosa had taken up petitions moved by Mr Sharif and his family members seeking review of the court’s July 28 judgement in the Panama Papers case. The Supreme Court, Justice Khosa observed, stood for everybody, big or small, when it came to constitutional and legal rights of the citizens. “Have no misconception; we are the defenders of the fundamental rights of the people.” “When I go to the trial court I will have to assail the manner the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) conducted inquiry against my client, which will be difficult due to the July 28 Supreme Court judgement that carries tags like ‘godfather’ against him and because everything in the reference had been attributed to the apex court,” the counsel said. The Supreme Court also regretted viciousness on the part of Mr Haris’s client (Nawaz Sharif) and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in which the Supreme Court was the target. “What goes around comes around, therefore do not complain about it,” Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed said in response to Advocate Shahid Hamid’s complaint about a lot of viciousness at his client (Ishaq Dar) in the media and the streets. The Supreme Court is expected to close the proceedings today after listening to Advocate Salman Akram Raja, representing Mr Sharif’s children, since both Khawaja Haris and Shahid Hamid have concluded their arguments. Khawaja Haris requested the court to appoint a separate judge for monitoring the proceedings of the trial court since the one appointed as the supervisory judge was part of this bench. UNI