KOHAT: Expressing gratitude to the apex court for its decision on the presidential reference, former premier Imran Khan has said he does not believe in any body and wants only the Supreme Court to hear corruption cases pending against the Sharif family.

Addressing a public meeting at a cricket stadium in Kohat sports complex on Tuesday, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said the verdict saved the nation from deteriorating moral standards that, according to him, had been compromised by his political rivals in a bid to oust his government under an alleged American conspiracy.

The responsibility to hear corruption cases against the Sharifs was on SC judges, he said, adding that cases pertaining to allegation of Rs40billion corruption were pending in courts against them.

Accompanied by former federal ministers and provincial cabinet members, Mr Khan hailed the Supreme Court verdict to reject votes of the lawmakers who betrayed not only their own party, but also their voters, Constitution and the country. He lauded the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lawmakers for not paying heed to the ‘greedy offers’ by the opposition for changing PTI government.

Says early election is the only solution to political, economic turmoil

Castigating PM Shehbaz Sharif, he said he assumed power through backdoor. The imported government deliberately destroyed national institutions such as the FIA in order to render them ineffective in probing corruption cases, he said. He also appealed to the apex court to order enquiry into the demise of FIA officer Dr Mohammad Rizwan who died of a cardiac arrest.

Criticising Mr Shehbaz and his son Mr Hamza, the PTI chairman said they should have been convicted by then but they had been dragging their cases and then came into power to transfer all those officers who were probing cases against them.

Calling JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Mr Khan said the National Assembly after a long time was functioning without ‘Diesel’.

Asking area people to stay ready for the Islamabad rally for which he would give a call this month, he said it would free the country of the corrupt governments and those who switched loyalties. He also asked them not to vote for the corrupt leaders who had parked their money in other countries.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2022