Judge video scandal: Nasir Butt visits HC to verify forensic report

LONDON (92 News) – Nasir Butt – the main suspect in Judge Arshad Malik videogate case – second time visited the Pakistan High Commission in London on Tuesday to verify the forensic reports of judge video scandal. According to the reports, Nasir Butt was stopped at the High Commission reception on arrival. Officials at the reception said that those who arrive for the verification must need to set an appointment whereas authorities earlier handed over his arrest warrant. High Commission officials have taken a stance that the approval of the Pakistan Foreign Ministry is needed to verify the report. A day earlier, Nasir Butt, the key player in the judge video case, appeared before the Pakistan High Commission in London. He brought the forensic report of the video to the High Commission. The High Commission authorities handed him over his arrest warrants. However, he refused to talk to the media on the occasion. On September 14, the Lahore High Court (LHC) had made Accountability Court Judge Arshad Malik as officer on special duty (OSD). A notification in this regard was issued by the registrar on the orders of the LHC chief justice. On August 20, the Supreme Court had ordered to repatriate Judge Arshad Malik to the Lahore High Court immediately. On July 12, the Islamabad High Court had removed Judge Malik from his post amid a controversy surrounding a leaked videotape showing his purported confession that he had been ‘pressurised and blackmailed’ to convict ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia corruption reference. However, the judge had denied the allegations, saying there was no pressure on him to convict Sharif and that the videos shown by PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz of his alleged confession at a press conference were ‘fake and based on lies’. Judge Malik, on December 4, 2018, had awarded prime minister Nawaz Sharif seven years in jail in the Al Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference. He, however, had acquitted him in a second reference related to Flagship Investments.