Former premier Nawaz Sharif on Thursday once again criticised the judges of the apex court and accused them of using "unbecoming language".
Talking to reporters outside an accountability court in Islamabad, Sharif said that the judges are using a language which "doesn't suit them" and "is an insult to their position".
Is there a law for those who are using such type of words, he asked.
"Is there any difference between the language of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the one being used by Imran Khan. The PTI chief has been using the same language which they [judges] are using now."
"As you must have read in newspapers and seen on TV channels, they [judges] were calling us 'dons', 'Sicilian mafia' and 'godfathers', and now they are calling us thieves and robbers. Isn't this an insult to their stature?" he said.
"We are showing patience [but] each and every person has an ego and conscience. A person should take a stand against such matters as per his or her conscience," he said, adding that PML-N leaders would not compromise on their self-respect.
Accusing the judges of violating the Constitution and taking oath under a dictator, he said that "PCO judges" [a reference to those judges who had taken oath under a provisional constitutional order (PCO) issued by the then military ruler Pervaiz Musharraf] were now teaching ethics.
"We are not going to take any such lesson [from them]," he said, adding that "no political party or Pakistani citizen should accept any such lesson."
Earlier this month, the apex court had handed down a jail term to former PML-N Senator Nehal Hashmi for committing contempt of court. The court also took suo motu notice of “anti-judiciary speeches” by the party's two federal ministers.
Sharif, however, had appeared undeterred by the jail term handed down to Hashmi for committing contempt and continued to slam the judiciary, saying that "PCO judges" and the infamous "doctrine of necessity" had caused "an irreparable loss to the country and democracy".
“I agree that the judiciary do command respect, but it is also necessary that the judiciary in view of its position and honour should care about the self respect of others,” Sharif had said following the verdict in Hashmi's case.
