Sunday, the Supreme Court (SC) issued a rejoinder and disputed that PTI Senator Azam Swati stayed at its judicial lodgings in Quetta, in response to his accusation that an offensive video was emailed to his wife from his stay there.
A day before, Swati wept in front of the media, declaring that his wife had received a tape starring him and her, but he could not elaborate because “the daughters of my country are listening.” The senator had accused the interior minister and two military commanders of conspiring against him and said they should be held liable if anything were to happen to him.
He stated that his daughter informed him that the video was taken during Swati and his wife’s trip to Quetta. The senator recalled that Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani had arranged for them to stay in the judicial lodges of the Supreme Court in Quetta.
The initiative was widely opposed on both sides of the political spectrum.
In response to Swati’s claims, the apex court issued a press release stating that the senator “never used/stayed in Supreme Court Judges Rest House at Quetta” and that, according to the Balochistan Special Branch, the PTI leader had stayed at the Balochistan Judicial Academy (Judicial Complex Quetta), which was not under the control of the apex court.
Soon after, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Fawad Chaudhry, appeared to mock the highest court’s statement, stating that it was an attempt by the registrar to reassure the judges about the safety of their lodges.
Meanwhile, the Senate leadership formed a special committee of 14 senators to study the incident. The letter from the Senate Secretariat stated that the committee’s report would be due thirty days after its first meeting.
The committee featured a single PTI senator, Mohsin Aziz.
Balochistan Judicial Academy rejects SC statement
Hours later, a press release from the Balochistan Judicial Academy revealed that from September 2019, the academy was running in an old building on Anscomb Road for “academic reasons without any having any facility of accommodation”.
It stated that before September 2019, it was functioning in two rooms and one hall in Balochistan University Law College on a leasing basis, claiming that even at that time it did not have any accommodation or rest house facility.
The press release states, “The report of Balochistan Special Branch on Balochistan Judicial Academy is erroneous and without foundation.”
The most disgraceful event in the nation’s history: Imran
During a news conference in Lahore, PTI Chairman Imran Khan referred to Swati’s case as “the most disgraceful event in the country’s history.”
Imran stated that the act “shocked the nation” and demanded that Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial conduct a thorough probe.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan addresses a press conference in Lahore on Sunday.
“The usual suspects who are attempting to cover this up and my assassination attempt are saying it’s a fake video,” he added, adding that Swati had told him he would be organizing a sit-in protest outside the apex court and demanding justice for himself.
Imran said PTI senators would be with Swati as well and appealed to lawyer associations for their support too.
