ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's former chief justice Saqib Nisar had directed a high court judge not to release former premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz on bail at any cost before the 2018 general elections, according to a media report on Monday.
Sharif, 71, convicted in two corruption cases in Pakistan, has been living in London since November 2019 after the Lahore High Court granted him permission to go abroad for four weeks for medical treatment.
The News International, in an explosive report, said that Rana M Shamim -- the former chief justice of the apex court of Gilgit Baltistan (GB) -- stated in a notarised affidavit that he was a witness to then chief justice of Pakistan Nisar's direction given to Justice Ameer Farooq of the Islamabad High Court.
"Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz Sharif must remain in jail until the general elections are over. On assurances from the other side, he (Nisar) became calm and happily demanded another cup of tea," according to the affidavit of the former top judge of GB.
According to the document, Shamim's statement was given under oath before the Oath Commissioner on November 10.
The affidavit, duly notarised, contains the signature of the ex-Chief Justice of Gilgit Baltistan as well as an image of his National Identity Card.
Both Sharif and Maryam were convicted by an accountability court in the Avenfield case before the July 25, 2018 general elections.
Their lawyers had moved a court for the suspension of the conviction but the case after initial hearings was postponed till the last week of July.
When The News International approached Shamim on Sunday, he confirmed the content of the affidavit read to him on a WhatsApp call and also sent a mobile message confirming the content of the statement.
However, former chief justice Nisar categorically denied that he had ever directed any of his subordinate judges in connection with any judicial order whether it pertained to Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz or anyone else.
The Islamabad High Court chief justice, Athar Minallah, took notice of the article and the allegation hurled by the former chief judge of GB and summoned journalist Ansar Abbasi, the editor-in-chief of Jang Group; Mir Shakeelur Rehman, editor Aamir Ghouri and former GB judge Shamim on Tuesday.
Minallah said the news report "appeared to undermine public confidence in the impartiality and independence of this court and its honourable judges," adding that "the aforementioned published report, prima facie, amounts to prejudicing public confidence in the administration of justice in a pending matter besides scandalising this Court."
The court also directed the respondents to explain why the contempt of court may not be initiated against them.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) termed the report as vindication of its stance that Sharif was a victim of political vendetta.
"It's yet another vindication of Nawaz Sharif & Maryam in the court of public opinion," PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif tweeted.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said: "What kind of joke[r]s are running campaigns in this country to prove Nawaz is being oppressed".
Calling the allegations as part of efforts aimed at "fabricating silly stories and conspiracy theories", Chaudhry asked Sharif to reveal the source of the money for the Avenfield apartments in London for which he was sentenced.
In August, deposed prime minister Sharif told a Pakistani court that he cannot return to the country as doctors have advised him to avoid air travel and stay in close proximity to the healthcare facilities until the COVID-19 threat is over.
Sharif's passport expired in February this year.
The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government had earlier declined a request for issuance of a new diplomatic passport to him.