KARACHI, June 6: In an apparent attempt to mend fences with the judiciary, Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim has said that he has nothing but respect for the courts of the country, and that a statement attributed to him, in which he reportedly portrayed the judiciary in a less than flattering light, has been twisted out of context.

The chief minister on Wednesday made the overtures towards the judiciary through a press release on returning from Umrah.

A petition was moved on May 31 by the Karachi Bar Association for the prosecution of Arbab Ghulam Rahim for contempt of court. Notices were also issued to the chief minister on June 1 by a Sindh high court bench for alleged contempt in two separate applications.

The statement the chief minister has alluded to refers to an interview he gave to the BBC’s Urdu Service. In it he said that the Sindh government would only cooperate with “impartial” judges of the Sindh high court in suo motu cases. He was also quoted as saying that now the judiciary was “interfering” in everything, from transfer and postings [of bureaucrats] to cases involving land.

However, in the press statement issued today, the chief minister’s tone underwent a complete change, as he lauded the judiciary’s role in dispensing justice to the people.

The chief minister said that he had always dissuaded honest judges from resigning. Additionally, he said, he had sought to engage retired judges in positions where men of integrity were needed.

He said that he had been completely misquoted in a section of the press regarding the said interview.

He added that he had simply said that regarding the alleged mishandling of government officials by lawyers, he would approach the chief justice.