LONDON: PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif once again criticised the superior judiciary, this time in a tweet about the failings of the Pakistani justice system, which he said is “ranked 129 out of 140 in the world”.

Mr Sharif appeared to be referring to a 2022 ranking by the World Justice Project, an independent organisation founded by an American lawyer William Neukom in 2006.

The body had said Pakistan held the 129th position out of 140 on their rule of law index, and that this position was a five place fall from the previous year.

Mr Sharif tweeted, “The judiciary invented the doctrine of necessity. It embraced dictators, legitimised dictatorship and gave certificates of Sadiq and Amin to the Ladla (beloved). Elected prime ministers were executed or imprisoned on false charges; banned for life for not taking a salary from their son. And now it rewrote the constitution by fixing the bench.”

He continued, “It is unfortunate that our justice system is 129 of 140 but some of our honourable judges are adamant that we have fall to the 140th rank, come what may.”

It was evident that Mr Sharif was hitting out at the Supreme Court and its judges, who held a hearing about elections today in the apex court. Mr Sharif in the past has been critical of Chief Justice Bandial for showing the PTI chairman undue leniency. A few days earlier, he lamented in a tweet that the treatment meted out to him is in sharp contrast to the amnesty given to Mr Khan.

A journalist on Twitter responded to Mr Sharif’s tweet asking whether the former prime minister believed the judiciary was acting against him “on its own” or whether he would hold Gen Bajwa and Gen Faiz accountable.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2023