KARACHI: In a hard-hitting reaction to the Supreme Court’s judgement a day before giving clean chit to Imran Khan, ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday announced that he would spearhead a fully-fledged movement for the rule of law and Constitution in the country.

Talking to media in London before leaving for Pakistan, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) leader bitterly criticised the apex court for what he alleged adopting double standard in handling his case and that of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan.

Drawing parallels, Mr Sharif said that while he had been sacked for not receiving a salary — amounting to a few thousand dirhams — from his son’s company, Imran Khan had been acquitted despite the fact that he had admitted to having hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of business transactions through his offshore company Niazi Services Ltd.

“This double standard is not acceptable anymore and I’ll launch a movement across the country with full force for the supremacy of law and Constitution,” he declared in unequivocal terms.

Mr Sharif and his daughter Maryam will be landing in Lahore on Sunday (today).

They travelled to London on Dec 5 to see ailing Kulsoom Nawaz who is undergoing treatment for cancer.

On Monday, both are set to appear before an accountability court in Islamabad in corruption cases.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2017