- Spokesperson says neither access to JIT offices nor to its proceedings or filmmaking
A spokesperson of Ministry of Interior Affairs on Monday said that a political party put the responsibility of leakage of the photo of Hussain Nawaz, a businessman and elder son of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on the ministry, which was a baseless and ridiculous allegation.
In a statement, he said that the external security of the Judicial Academy was the job of the Islamabad Police while the Interior Ministry or the police had no role in administrative matters of the academy. Any department or institution of the ministry including the police had neither access to the offices of JIT nor to its proceedings or filmmaking.
“This is very inappropriate to do politics on a sensitive matter,” he said. According to this logic, the Islamabad Police provided security to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, then whatever happened inside the residence of the Bani Gala, did it become the responsibility of the Islamabad Police or the Interior Ministry,” he questioned.
The photograph, which appears to be a screen grab from a CCTV feed, bears the date of Hussain’s first appearance before the joint investigation team (JIT) on May 28. It shows the prime minister’s son sitting by himself in a plain room on the premises of the Federal Judicial Academy, ostensibly facing his questioners.
PTI leader Shafqat Mahmood alleged that the ‘scheme’ to sabotage the JIT has been fully exposed. “This isn’t PML-N’s first attempt at sabotaging the JIT,” he said. “The media cell being used to create controversy around the JIT and the Supreme Court is the same as the one that has been maligning the armed forces,” he claimed.
He further alleged that the photo was first shared through fake social media accounts and as soon as it surfaced on these websites, PML-N leaders started associating PTI with the leak. “They are trying to associate the leak to PTI to malign the JIT’s reputation and hinder its progress,” Mahmood said.
Expressing serious concerns over the photo’s illegal publication, State Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb had called it demeaning and a serious breach of investigation rules. “Since the JIT is functioning under the supervision of the judiciary, it is the responsibility of the judges to take cognizance of such things, which are creating doubts about the working of the JIT,” said Dr Musadik Malik, the spokesperson for the prime minister.
