Imran Khan wants judiciary to investigate accountability judge video

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said that the judiciary should take notice of the alleged video of the accountability judge released by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PLM-N) leaders, including Maryam Nawaz, Shehbaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

Reacting on the video, while addressing the Cabinet, Khan said that the judiciary is independent, and it should itself take notice of the video, Dunya News reported.

Khan added that the PML-N had pressurised the judiciary in the past but this will not be tolerated in Naya Pakistan.

He continued to say that any tactic of the opposition would not work and the process of accountability will continue.

Regarding the video of accountability court judge Muhammad Arshad, the prime minister further stressed that the government should not become a party in this regard.

The video released by Maryam shows Accountability Court judge Arshad Malik telling a PML-N worker that there was a lack of evidence against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case. Sharif is currently serving a seven-year jail sentence in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail in relation to the reference.

While the accountability judge has decried the video as being fake, Maryam told party workers on Sunday during a rally that Nawaz is "paying the price for raising voice in the public's favour."

She has since been slammed by leaders from the Pakistani government, including the Special Assistant to Pakistan Prime Minister on Information, Firdous Ashiq Awan.

Firdous said that Maryam's efforts to hoodwink the public had failed with the accountability judge's clarification on Sunday, adding that a forensic audit of the video will be conducted to check its authenticity.