LONDON: Days after his son-in-law retired Capt Mohammad Safdar was arrested in Karachi under dubious circumstances, Mr Sharif urged the judiciary to take notice of the case.

When asked by reporters outside Stanhope House about his views on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent speech in which he issued a stark warning to him, the PML-N leader said: “There is a lot happening. I feel the respected judiciary should take notice and that they are capable of taking suo motu notice against such actions [Safdar’s arrest].”

Last week, Mr Khan in a fiery speech at the Tiger Force Convention in Islamabad said he would make it his priority to bring Mr Sharif back to Pakistan and put him in jail.

Capt Safdar was arrested and then released in Karachi on bail after officials raided the hotel room where he and his wife Maryam Nawaz were staying after a rally of the Pakistan Democratic Movement.

While Mr Sharif did not directly say which matter the judiciary should take suo motu notice of, he lauded the Sindh police for registering a protest over the alleged highhanded manner in which the establishment acted in the case.

“These actions are out of pure anger and revenge. Why? Because I am speaking the truth about these ‘state above the state’ policies that have hurt Pakistan.”

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2020