In an exclusive interview with DawnNewsTV’s Live With Adil Shahzeb on Thursday, PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz said that her father and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif had asked an extension for former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa. Khosa has been attacked in the past by Maryam for taking part in a “plot” against Nawaz. Maryam questioned Khosa about whether or not his extension as chief judge was being discussed, and she prompted him to swear on the Quran. She further asserted that Khosa would have continued to serve as chief justice and Umar Ata Bandial would not currently hold the position if her father had approved the extension. During the interview, Maryam Nawaz alleged that there were discussions about increasing the retirement age of Supreme Court judges, which she claimed was for the benefit of Justice (retd) Khosa. She also stated that a delegation had conveyed a message from Khosa to Nawaz, who was in jail at the time, requesting an extension, but Nawaz had refused. It is worth noting that in 2017, Asif Saeed Khosa led a Supreme Court bench that disqualified Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Papers case. Maryam Nawaz stated that retired Lt-Gen Faiz Hamid, the former director general of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), had “admitted” to his crime during the same conversation. For his claimed part in her and her father’s conviction in NAB corruption referrals in 2017, Maryam had previously demanded Hamid’s court martial. Senior journalist Kamran Khan responded by claiming that Hamid had phoned him and refuting the claims. Hamid countered that he was just a major general in the army at the time and that the chief of army staff had the last word in all critical issues, which were decided by courts. Maryam, on the other hand, claimed that Hamid’s remarks were a “confession of his guilt,” and she referred to him as a “stigma” tarnishing the army.
Former Pakistani Chief Judge Saqib Nisar was a topic Maryam Nawaz covered in her interview. She claimed that a group of five individuals, including Nisar, were accountable for the nation’s current problems. In response to Nisar’s recent admission that he erred in some of his decisions while serving as Chief Justice, Maryam said that Nisar ought to have resigned after acknowledging that he was unqualified to administer justice.
Maryam also questioned why the legal system had not reacted negatively to Nisar’s recent comments, claiming that he had transgressed both the law and the people. She noted Nisar’s participation in the creation of the joint investigation teams for “WhatsApp” and asserted that his choices weren’t error that could be overlooked because they had cost the entire inquiry.
Maryam was questioned about the killing of a PTI supporter who was allegedly killed during a crackdown in Lahore after Section 144 was implemented. Imran Khan, the head of PTI, had originally posted a video that showed the worker moving towards the police station while still alive, but afterwards posted a picture of the man’s dead body with a bloodstain on his forehead.
Maryam expressed her sympathies to the family and friends of the dead and said she was profoundly grieved by the event that occurred the day before, in which a political worker lost his life.