Pak opposition rejects Imran Khan’s move to appoint ex-SC judge to chair Broadsheet case

The opposition in Pakistan has rejected Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government’s move to appoint former Supreme Court judge Azmat Saeed Sheikh as head of the Broadsheet inquiry committee as he had earlier served as deputy prosecutor general of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) spokesperson, Marriyum Aurangzeb said, “Handing over investigations those who should [themselves] be investigated is the murder of justice. [Prime Minister] Imran Khan, have the courage to tell the nation you need an NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance)”.

She further said that the appointment of the retired judge was a “big fraud” and “controversial” since Justice Sheikh had served as deputy prosecutor general of NAB during the original signing of the Broadsheet agreement and was one of the negotiators in the deal, along with being a senior legal officer at the time.

“How can the investigation conducted by the former deputy prosecutor general be transparent and fair?” she further said while highlighting that “being a legal officer, he [Justice Sheikh] had fully understood the document of agreement with Broadsheet”.

“The nation wants accountability for those who loot and squander their earnings, sprinkling salt on the wounds is not a joke,” she added.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Secretary General Nayyar Bukhari has said that the appointment of the former judge had exposed the government’s dishonesty, adding that the purpose of appointing Justice Sheikh was to cast all blame “on the opposition and previous governments”.

“Broadsheet is a very important issue [so] we want a transparent investigation,” he said.

This comes days after Broadsheet LLC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kaveh Moussavi had said that he had “voluntarily” identified the suspicious bank account in the UK having an account of USD 1 billion.