RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) vice-chairman expressed its disappointment over remarks of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, a judge of Islamabad High Court (IHC), against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

In a press release issued by the PBC on Thursday, the council’s vice-chairman, Abid Saqi, said the judge should have avoided making such remarks against a former prime minister, while hearing the matter of compliance of arrest warrants upon him, earlier issued by the court, in the Avenfield Apartment case.

“Passing avoidable observations/remarks by the courts, while hearing of cases often expose the court and concerned judges to criticism, which at times, undermines the neutrality and independence of the courts and the presiding judges, thus, shaking the confidence of the people in the system of dispensation of justice,” Saqi said.

Justice Kayani had said: “Accused [Mr Sharif] knows that he went abroad after defeating the system. He must be laughing at the system, while sitting abroad. It’s a shameful conduct by the accused.”