Supreme Court issues short order in Arsalan Iftikhar-Malik Riaz case

Wrapping up the most talkative saga of the recent times, the Supreme Court issued short orders in the suo motu case involving the Chief Justice’s son, Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, and real estate tycoon, Malik Riaz.

In its short order, a two-member bench comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif ordered strict action against Arsalan Iftikhar, Malik Riaz and Salman Ahmed.

The ruling said that Malik Riaz attempted to buy justice through bribes which is an offence under law of the land.

Justice Jawad S Khawaja while reading out the short order of the controversial case said that not only was the Supreme Court’s credibility questioned, but allegations were also leveled against the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other judges.

The bench noted that bribery is a sin, and both givers and takers of bribes were sinners. It noted, “The ones who give and the ones who accept bribes, both will go to hell”.

The court in the ruling said that while Malik Riaz claimed Rs327 million was given in cash, the documents presented only provided details of Arsalan’s visits and no proof of monetary transfers.

Malik Riaz admitted that he did not succeed in his efforts despite spending money. The order further stated that Riaz did not submit any statement on behalf of his son-in-law Salman

The court said that transparent trial was the basic right of Arsalan Iftikhar, Salman Ahmed and Malik Riaz In the order, the court stated that the media had attacked the judiciary, adding that the statements of journalists showed that they did not try to get their facts straight

In the meantime, the bench rejected plea of Zahid Bokhari, the counsel for real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, of forming a commission to probe the case or handing it over to an investigative agency.

The apex court expressed that the media was holding the nation hostage on the basis of baseless information, adding that media should not let itself use by those who doesn’t respect the Constitution.

Moreover, the court also said that journalists should be careful in verifying a story before publishing it, and that the media should consider all aspects of a story before airing it.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=25818

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jun 14 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.