KARACHI: Former chief justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar said on Monday the Supreme Court had not declared Imran Khan “sadiq and ameen” (truthful and honest) unreservedly and in all aspects of his conduct, Dawn.com reported.

In Dec 2017, then-CJP Nisar had rejected PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi’s petition for the PTI chief’s disqualification on allegations of not declaring his assets to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The verdict was seen as an endorsement of Mr Khan’s character by the SC bench and worn as a proverbial badge of honour by the PTI chief.

However, in a rare conversation with Adil Shahzeb of DawnNews, the former chief justice said the verdict did not cover all aspects of Imran Khan’s conduct, clarifying that only the issues raised in that particular case were examined in the judgement.

Former top judge acknowledges he ‘may have erred’ in certain verdicts; claims his Whatsapp may have been hacked

Mr Nisar also acknowledged that he may have erred in some of his judgements during his time as chief justice of the apex court. When asked which judgements he was referring to, he responded by saying that he was a human being and to err is human. However, he added, he was ready to explain if there was any mistake in the verdicts he had issued.

He also took exception to a claim by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman that the ex-CJP and former spymaster Lt Gen Faiz Hamid were “lobbying” for the PTI chief. Insisting that nothing of the sort had happened, he appeared dejected at the assertion and said he was trying to get in touch with the JUI-F chief.

About the reported claim of former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa that the former CJP had been used in the Panama case to disqualify PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and how he was under pressure from Gen Hamid, he responded: “I will first confirm this with Gen Bajwa whether he has said so. If he has said this, then it is inappropriate.

“I completely reject this allegation. How can Gen Hamid pressurise me?”

Asked whether he was denying the allegation that he was “lobbying” for Imran Khan, ex-CJP Nisar claimed he was not in contact with the PTI chief. However, he also later said he was lobbying to help Imran understand to respect the courts, not to blemish the judiciary, and save the system.

Talking about the former ISI chief, he said that the contact between them was reserved to Lt Gen Hamid texting him to ask about how he was doing.

The ex-CJP was also asked if his WhatsApp account was “hacked”, to which he responded in the affirmative. He said he suspected that his data was being misused.

His remarks came after several politicians, including PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz, have accused the former chief justice of “conspiring” against Nawaz Sharif and propping up Imran Khan.

In Nov 2021, the ex-CJP became embroiled in controversy after a former Gilgit-Baltistan chief justice was quoted as saying in an affidavit that he witnessed Nisar relaying instructions to a high court judge to not release Maryam and Nawaz Sharif in the corruption references against them.

At the time, Mr Nisar had rubbished the report. Later in 2022, the former GB judge completely disowned the affidavit and withdrew from its contents.

An audio clip had also surfaced at the time, purportedly of a conversation between Nisar and an unidentified man. In the clip, the ex-CJP purportedly said that Nawaz would have to be “punished”. However, Nisar had termed the audio clip “fabricated” and said he had “never spoken to the person in the audio call”.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2023