ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Sunday asked the people to rise in defence of the Supreme Court in the wake of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) announcement not to accept the joint investigation team’s (JIT) report unless it cross-examines the Qatari prince to verify his two letters.

Addressing a press conference in response to the press conference of PML-N federal ministers in support of Sharif family a day earlier, Khan said the PML-N may attack the Supreme Court once again. “I fear the situation is leading to exactly where the PML-N had attacked the Supreme Court in 1997,” he said. He said anyone believing in democracy would not make such a statement.

“I ask the whole nation, lawyers and civil society to defend the apex court against PML-N attack,” he said. “That is why they (PML-N) have started attacking the SC and the army. They are now directly attacking both the institutions,” he claimed. Khan demanded that the Supreme Court should put Nawaz Sharif’s name on the exit control list and also ask the premier to step down immediately.

The PTI chief said that Justice Azmat Saeed had, during the very first hearing of Panama Papers implementation phase, told the Sharif’s counsel that the letter submitted by the Qatari prince would go into the trash if he did not appear before the JIT.

“It is the responsibility of the Sharif family to produce their witness before the JIT,” he said. He criticised the Qatari prince saying he could come to Pakistan for Houbara bustard hunting and signing business deals but not for recording a statement before the JIT.

Referring to what he termed PML-N’ defiance, Khan came down hard on the ruling party and posed a question whether Pakistan was a banana republic where one could announce not to accept such a report. He said that the government had ruined all state institutions as he referred to the ‘tampering’ of the record pertaining to the Sharif family’s sugar mills by the SECP.

He said, “Sharif should be sent to jail not only for corruption, money-laundering, tax evasion and concealment of assets but also for believing that Pakistanis are a foolish nation”. He justified the SC judge in labelling Sharif as Godfather. He alleged that Sharif was ruining the whole state institutions just to save the looted money.

To a question, Khan said he would be feeling no regrets if he was also disqualified in the course of getting Sharif down. To another question, he said he was not happy with Maryam Nawaz’s appearance before the JIT but added no one else was to be blamed for the episode. He told the media that her name could be found on ICIJ website as a beneficial owner of the four London flats. He also demanded that all the reports pertaining to Panama investigation should be made public. The JIT will submit its final report to the SC implementation bench today.