ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday
said that the reservations of the Sharif family regard
ing the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) were legal and constitutional.
“Therefore, the Supreme Court of Pakistan must not only take notice of them, but should also address them on a priority basis,” th
e minister said, while talking to reporters.
“Any decision by the joint investigation team (JIT) without address
ing the reservations of Sharif family by the SC will be incomplete,” she added.
She
said that the Sharif family, notwithstand
ing their reservations and the suspicion-laden atmosphere, had adopted a legal and constitutional course as it firmly believed in uphold
ing the sanctity of law and the constitution. “The family has been through the process of accountability dur
ing the PPP and Musharraf regimes and every time it has emerged unscathed from the rigours of the accountability processes. After pass
ing through testing times, Nawaz Sharif was elected prim
e minister for a third time,” she s
aid.
Th
e minister expressed the hope that the prim
e minister would ultimately be vindicated and would emerge victorious from the current accountability process as well as from the court of the people next year.
She reiterated that the prim
e minister had created history by appearing before the JIT. “The allegations against the prim
e minister are absolutely baseless and false and his appearance before the JIT shows his abiding belief in uphold
ing the law and the constitution,” she said. “The appearance of Shahbaz Sharif is also to reiterate respect for law and the Constitution,” she said.
She
said that it was also obligatory on all the state institutions to uphold the law and the constitution as had been done by the prim
e minister.
Th
e minister of state
said that documents relating to the letter of the Qatari prince had also been submitted in the SC and the prince had also
said that he firmly stood by the contents of his letter.
“Nobody can come up with or prove any case of corruption against the PM during his three stints in office. Similarly, not a single case of corruption has ever been reported against Shahbaz Sharif during his three tenures as chief minister of the Punjab,” she s
aid.
To a question about the PTI’s threat to come out on the streets, th
e minister
said that the party was trying to obstruct the process of development that had put the country on the road to a sustained economic growth.
She
said that Imran Khan was an absconder from the anti-terrorist court, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the SC. “If he has the courage and any grain of conscience, he should come down from his temporary hilly abode to face the charges against him,” she said.
“Imran Khan is making tall claims about accountability, but when it comes to accountability of his own ministers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he closed down the Ehtesab Commission,” she s
aid.
Marriyum
said that all those, who had different charges against them, should also be put through the process of expeditious accountability.