LAHORE - Real estate tycoon Malik Riaz has revealed that President Asif Ali Zardari put forward two conditions for the restoration of Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as Chief Justice of Pakistan which he accepted.
Talking to a private TV channel on Wednesday, Riaz claimed that in his meetings with the then deposed CJ, Iftikhar Ch, he had asked for two things: First, Ch Iftikhar will not trouble the PPP government unduly; second, he (CJ) will not run a parallel government. The deposed CJ had agreed to my requests, he said, adding that he never talked about NRO issue with the CJ.
He repeated that he still has confidence in the chief justice and all the other judges, saying at the same time that everything, including justice, was up for sale in the country. He revealed that CJ Ifthikhar and Hamza Shahbaz Sharif had rejected his offer of providing them bullet proof vehicles.
The property mogul, who claimed of having a lot of secrets pertaining to the era of former army chief Gen (r) Aslam Beg to the present day, said it was not the government that had been helping him; rather, it was he who helped the government.
Malik Riaz clarified that he had not accused the chief justice of any wrongdoing and he had all the respect him, but he should answer the questions put to him. He said CJ’s son Dr Arsalan used to be present in the meetings he held with Justice Iftilkar.
Riaz said he did not pay any bribes but was being blackmailed for the last two years by Arsalan, whom he described as a ‘don’ who was running the judiciary. “I have been blackmailed, and like me many other businessmen were blackmailed too,” he said, adding, that he had always supported the chief justice in his columns. “But, Arsalan Iftikhar is a don.“
Riaz alleged that even now Arsalan was having a room in the Balochistan House that SC Registrar got for him from Rehman Malik. The former chairman and father of the present chief executive of the Bahria Town said that all the working and transactions of the town are filmed. He said the money that was received by Arsalan did not belong to Bahria Town. “The Supreme Court would be responsible if our project was made to sink,” he said.
When asked of repercussions which may arise following his action, Malik Riaz replied that he did not care if he was charged with contempt or sent to prison. Malik Riaz said this time he went to the Supreme Court not for buying justice but to present the facts.
Recalling the days of his past, he said he used to be a poor man who had to walk on foot for as many as 8 kilometres as he had no money. “I did not even have enough cash for medical treatment of my daughter,” he added. He said whatever he owned today was bestowed to him by the grace of Allah, adding that 75 percent of his assets were being used for welfare work. To a question he said, “If I am a tax evader, government should arrest me”.