- SC to announce verdict in 2-3 days
ISLMABAD, August 20: : Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa on Tuesday heard a case about the investigation of a controversial secretly taped video of Judge Arshad Malik and said the heads of judges were bowed in shame due to conduct of the accountability judge.
Hearing petitions seeking probe into the leaked video at the top court, the chief justice said, “Thousands of judges in the country who are honest and upright, their heads have been bent with ashamed due to the conduct of Judge Malik”.
He wondered why the federal government was protecting him and Judge Malik was not being repatriated to Lahore High Court (LHC) so that disciplinary proceedings could be initiated against him who had been blackmailed and was vulnerable to be blackmailed in the future.
“Judge Malik might get blackmailed by the federal government as it has obtained [an] objectionable video. It’s very dangerous,” said the CJP.
Chief Justice Khosa also asked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) whether they did not try to get the original video which was aired in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) press conference.
“Why the video has not been forensic examined?” questioned the CJP.
He asked the attorney general Pakistan whether anyone moved an application in the high court to get relief on the basis of the video. “No one moved any application,” the AGP replied.
According to Justice Umar Ata Bandial, those who floated the story disassociated themselves from it.
The SC bench, after hearing the case, noted that an appropriate order would be passed in the next couple of days.
During the FIA probe so far, the findings that were revealed were as follows:
“The subject video of complainant Judge Muhammad Arshad Malik was made by the accused Mian Tariq Mehmood r/o Multan from 2000 to 2003, when the former was posted as additional district and sessions judge, Multan.”
“As per Affidavit dated 11-07-2019 of Judge Muhammad Arshad Malik complainant, he was contacted by two acquaintances namely Maher Ghulam Jilani and Mian Nasir Janjua. During the meeting, accused Mian Nasir Janjua claimed that he was appointed as the judge on his specific and personal recommendation to an influential person in the then PML-N government,” said the FIA report.
“The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Reference No 18/2017 (Flagship Reference) and Reference No 19/2017 (HME Reference) were transferred for trial to accountability court No. II, Islamabad in August 2018 after five months of [the] appointment of the complainant judge. As per Affidavit dated 11-07-2019 of the complainant judge, at a social sitting attended by both accused Nasir Janjua and Maher Ghulam Jilani, the accused Nasir Janjua took him aside and implored him to give [a] verdict of acquittal in both the said references. Besides, judge’s deposed that he was again approached by accused Nasir Janjua and Maher Ghulam Jilani who offered him Euros equivalent to Rs100 million and immediately Euros equivalent to Rs20 million were available in their vehicle outside. However, [the] offer of the bribe was made prior to the decision of the references.” – Agencies
