Real estate tycoon Malik Riaz (C) waves to members of the media as he leaves after appearing before the Supreme Court in Islamabad June 12, 2012.—File Photo by Reuters.
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has wrapped up the suo motu case involving Chief Justice’s son Dr Arsalan Iftikhar and real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, ordering action against the two in its short order issued Thursday, DawnNews reported.
The court has ordered the Attorney General Irfan Qadir to take strict legal action against Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, Malik Riaz and his son-in-law Salman.
Justice Jawad s Khawaja read out the short order after Thursday’s proceedings of the controversial case heard by a two member bench of the apex court.
The court said that not only was the Supreme Court’s credibility questioned, but allegations were also levelled against the Chief Justice and the judiciary. The court added that bribery is a sin, and both givers and takers of bribes were sinners.
The SC also explained its reasons for taking the suo motu notice of the case in its Thursday’s short order, It said that the suo motu notice was necessary to counter the wrong perception about the Supreme Court being created due to reports in the media.
The apex court rejected suggestions put forth to hand over the case to an investigative commission or the National Accountability Beureau (NAB).
The court ruled that Malik Riaz had attempted to “buy justice” through bribery, and that he had grown into a habit of buying everything with money.
It also declared that Riaz had fuelled skepticism and raised doubts on the apex court’s credibility.
Moreover, the court also said that journalists should be careful in verifying a story before publishing it, and that the media should consider all aspects of a story before airing it.
It also said that baseless allegations were levelled against the courts in the media, and that it should be more careful about its credibility and reputation.
The court also referred to Malik Riaz’s statement in which he said that even after allegedly paying Rs 340 million to Arsalan Iftikhar, no favours were returned to him from the Supreme Court.
