Business Recorder
Published Date: Jan 28, 2012
TIGHT SECURITY FOR IJAZ: SHAHBAZ’S OFFER AMOUNTS TO CONTEMPT OF COURT, SAYS MALIK
While terming the statement of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, to provide security to Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, as being tantamount to contempt of court, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that he would move the court over the issue.
“The statement of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif regarding Mansoor Ijaz was contempt of court.
The Chief Minister must know that Lahore is also part of Pakistan.
I will ask lawyers to approach court against this,” the minister said while talking to media persons here on Friday.
He hinted at setting up a judicial commission to probe the spurious drugs case, which claimed lives of around 104 people in Punjab.
“I will discuss the matter with the top leadership and suggest setting up a judicial commission to bring the real culprits to task.
I will recommend including a representative of media as member in the commission,” Rehman said.He said that clear directives have been given to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to arrest whosoever is found involved in the fake drugs case, whether it is Punjab Health Secretary or Medical Superintendent of Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC).
“The statement regarding Ijaz’s security is a snub to the court,” the minister noted, asserting that attempts are being made to cover up the deaths triggered by the fake medicines by talking about bringing Mansoor Ijaz to Lahore.
Earlier, addressing the seminar, a report launching ceremony, the minister said, that “the world considers us terrorists despite the fact that we are worst affected with the menace of terrorism”.
He urged the Nato forces stationed in Afghanistan to absolutely eradicate the poppy crops and its cultivation, as the narcotics money is being employed in terrorist activities.
The report titled ‘Examining the Dimensions, Scale and Dynamics of the Illegal Economy: A study of Pakistan in the Region’, was jointly compiled by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).