Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to grant bail to Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust case. Sharif accused the court of double standards and stated that justice is dead in Pakistan due to such practices. Imran Khan cannot be arrested until May 17 in this case, and criminal proceedings against him in the Toshakhana Reference case were also stayed by the Islamabad High Court.
During his address to the federal cabinet, Sharif accused Imran Khan of leading the country into an economic crisis and holding the nation’s security hostage. He also accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of causing violence, which was not witnessed during the 1973 fall of Dhaka. Sharif will meet members of the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition and discuss whether to impose an emergency.
Sharif said that the relief granted by the Pakistan apex court was nothing less than a ‘NRO’, which granted amnesty to politicians, political workers, and bureaucrats accused of corruption, money laundering, murders, and terrorism between January 1, 1986, and October 12, 1999. He further added that such leniency was not shown to members of the PML-N coalition, including Nawaz Sharif, when they were arrested, stating that no one spoke up about the injustices they faced.
Overall, Sharif criticized the Pakistan Supreme Court for extending relief to Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust case, and he accused Imran Khan and PTI of causing economic crisis and violence in Pakistan. Sharif also criticized the court for showing leniency towards Imran Khan while not doing the same for members of the PML-N coalition.