Ex-CJP Asif Saeed Khan Khosa had sought an extension from Nawaz Sharif: Maryam Nawaz

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President and Chief Organizer Maryam Nawaz Sharif has claimed that former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khan Khosa had sought an extension from her father and PML-N supremo Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

Maryam Nawaz made the claim in an interview with a private TV channel.

Maryam Nawaz said: “Place your hand on the Quran and tell [the world] was your extension as the chief justice not being talked about?

“If Nawaz Sharif sahab had agreed, and he (Khosa) would have gotten an extension, then Umar Ata Bandial would not be the [current] chief justice.”

She said there were even talks of increasing the retirement age of Supreme Court judges, which she claimed was for Justice (retd) Khosa’s benefit.

Maryam said that a delegation had conveyed the then chief justice’s message to Nawaz, who was in jail at the time, adding that the PML-N supremo had refused to grant an extension.

Meanwhile during the interview, Maryam Nawaz also spoke about former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general (DG) retired Lt-Gen Faiz Hamid and said that he had “confessed” to his crime.

Maryam defined Gen Hamid’s remarks as “confession of his crime”, adding: “If he has accepted it and confessed to it, then the institution of the armed forces [should] itself take notice because his confessional statement has come.”

Calling Gen Hamid a “stigma” blighting the army, Maryam Nawaz expressed the hope that the institution itself would carry hold him accountable.

During the interview, Maryam Nawaz was also asked about the death of a PTI worker during a crackdown in Lahore a day ago on those participating in the party’s rally following the imposition of Section 144.

“The incident that happened yesterday … a political worker lost their life and I am utterly saddened by this,” she said, adding that she had also offered her condolences to the deceased’s family members and loved ones.