Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Pakistan chief justice’s son ran judiciary like a don

Let Us Build Pakistan Business tycoon Malik Raiz asked three questions from Chief Justice Iftikar Muhammad during a news conference. Riaz holding the Quran in his right hand asked: 1. Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry should reveal how many times I (Malik Riaz) have met you in the middle of the night? Was Arsalan Iftikhar not a part of these meetings, does he not know me? The sitting Registrar was also present during several of these meetings. 2. How many meetings were held at the residence of Ahmed Khalil between the Chief Justice and Prime Minister and was there not an acting judge of the Supreme Court present during one of the meetings? 3. How long did the Chief Justice know about this case and why did he wait till media reports to take suo moto notice. Malik Riaz said that he was blackmailed and did not pay any bribes. He described Arsalan Iftikhar as ‘Don’ adding that he was the one running the judiciary. SANA Real estate tycoon and the developer of Bahria Town, Malik Riaz, on Tuesday levelled horrendous allegations against Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, in his row with the son of the chief justice, Dr Arsalan Iftikhar. Addressing a crowded news conference with reference to the Dr Arsalan Iftikhar suo moto case, Malik Riaz, while holding a pocket-sized Holy Quran in his right hand, asked three questions from the chief justice. “I have come with Holy Quran just like the chief justice did while taking suo moto notice,” he said, adding he would share more evidence with media in the due course of time. He asked the chief justice to tell the nation on Holy Quran as to how many times they had met during the night and if his son Dr Arsalan Iftikhar did not know about it? Was he and the sitting registrar of the Supreme Court were not present in these meetings? He further asked the chief justice to disclose how many times he and the prime minister met at the residence of his partner Ahmed Khalil. “Place this Holy Quran in front of you and tell the people, for how long have you not known about this? Why did you not take a suo moto then? Why did you take a suo moto only after the media broke the news?” When asked of repercussions that may arise following such a news conference, Malik Riaz replied that he did not care if he was charged with contempt or sent to prison. He said a person putting everything at stake was never afraid of jail or death. “Call me in contempt of court or send me to jail. I’m ready to die. I’m not afraid of the jails,” he added. Terming Dr Arsalan a ‘don’, Malik Riaz said he was running the judiciary, adding he did not go to the Supreme Court to purchase justice but to get justice. “Our cases were not heard in the Supreme Court properly,” he alleged. He said the chief justice knew about the business dealings and should have taken suo moto action before the media broke this news. Answering a question, he maintained that he had been blackmailed as a businessman and said, “I did not bribe anyone but was blackmailed. Blackmailers were assigned to follow me and I did not bribe anyone, my son-in-law did. Answering another question, Malik Riaz said he would not demand judicial reference against the chief justice, adding that he had not accused the chief justice of anything and respected him. He also denied that he had backing of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. “President Zardari had refrained me from doing so,” he added. He said in 2007, he worked for restoration of the judiciary and wrote columns in support of the chief justice during the Musharraf era. He said he even offered a bulletproof car to the chief justice for the safety of his life but he refused. He said he faced investigation of NAB, FIA, MI and other institutions for sixteen years. Malik Riaz had to leave in the middle of press conference amid a hue and cry that he should also disclose names of journalists on Holy Quran who had benefited from him. “I do not need to answer all the questions,” he remarked after keeping mum for minutes and requested his legal counsel to answer questions of the journalists but he also declined. Najam Sethi’s name is being rumoured as one of those journalists who were bribed by Malik Riaz.

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