LAHORE, March 26 (TNS): Lahore High Court Justice Mamoon Rashid Sheikh on Monday accepted a petition seeking a ban on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s “anti-judiciary speeches” and constituted a three-member bench to take up the issue.
Barrister Javed Iqbal Jaffery said in the petition that the “inflammatory rhetoric” adopted by Sharif in his speeches was directed at the judiciary and his speeches could be classified as treason and a threat to the sovereignty of the state.
The transmission and publication of such speeches should be banned, said the petition, citing the example of banning MQM-London leader Altaf Hussain, whose speeches were banned in 2015. Justice Sheikh forwarded the petition to a three-member full bench and fixed the hearing for April 2.
Following the Panama Papers’ verdict, Sharif and other PML-N leaders have aimed their guns at the judiciary, accusing it of playing at the hands of unseen forces
In January, the Islamabad High Court accepted a contempt of court petition against Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz for making anti-judiciary speeches.
The Supreme Court earlier this month had dismissed a contempt of court petition against the former prime minister saying fair comment on courts’ decision was the right of every citizen.
