ISLAMABAD, June 13: In his first formal reaction to the raging storm over the chief justice’s son, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday that the Supreme Court was facing a conspiracy and vowed “not to let it succeed”.

“The nation is well aware of the factors behind the conspiracy and will never allow it to succeed. Anyone who thinks he can escape the arms of law with such tactics is mistaken,” he told leaders of his party who, according to a press release, had been called to discuss “the current situation in the country”.

A PML-N spokesman quoted Mr Sharif as saying at the meeting that the chief justice had established a right tradition by putting his son in the dock.

“Political parties, members of the civil society, intellectuals, the media and the masses stand by the independent judiciary,” Mr Sharif said.

The participants were of the view that the PML-N had to its credit to get deposed judges instated and the party should play its role to defend the independence of judiciary in future as well.

According to sources, they reviewed the situation and discussed various options to deal with the possible outcome of the controversy regarding the alleged involvement of the chief justice’s son in a bribery scam.

It was decided that the party would adopt a wait-and-see policy since the judiciary had already taken up the matter.

The sources said there was almost a consensus at the meeting that the PML-N should go for public mobilisation with the support of other political parties, lawyers’ bodies and civil society organisations, if needed, for the sake of independence of judiciary.

During the meeting which continued for about 90 minutes, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, briefed Mr Sharif on alleged connections of Malik Riaz with the PPP leadership, other stakeholders in power corridors and military circles, the sources said.

The reaction from the Pakistan Muslim League-N came hours after chief of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf Imran Khan announced his support for Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Despite the fact that Mr Khan once again accused PML-N leaders of playing the role of a friendly opposition, some political experts believe that the possible judicial crisis could bring the two parties closer as both of them had announced protest movements against the PPP-led coalition government.

Our Staff Reporter adds from Lahore: In a statement issued here, Mr Sharif said that in a society where a head of the judiciary had been involved in tampering with the academic records of his children and where political rulers went to any extant to hide corrupt practices of members of their families, the tradition set by the chief justice was extremely praiseworthy.

“It is the need of the hour that the golden principles of justice put in practice by the chief justice are further strengthened.”

He said the PML-N had launched a powerful movement for restoration of independent judiciary with the help of lawyers and people and it would never allow the fruits garnered through that historic democratic struggle to go waste just to protect the vested interests of an individual or a group.