ISLAMABAD, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 17th Aug, 2026) Federal Minister for Law and Justice, Azam Nazeer Tarar on Monday told the Senate that no individual was above the law adding that the same laws and judicial process applicable to every citizen equally applied to the PTI founder.
Responding to a point of order raised by Senator Azam Swati, the minister said Parliament had provided the constitutional and legal framework under which the country was governed, and all individuals and institutions were required to operate within that framework.
“The law that applies to me applies to you, and the law that applies to you equally applies to the PTI founder,” Tarar said while rejecting the notion that any political leader could be treated as an exception to the established legal system. Referring to the May 9 cases and cases involving the PTI founder, Tarar said these matters had proceeded before courts where witnesses appeared, evidence was recorded and subjected to cross-examination, following which judgments of acquittal or conviction were handed down.
He said the law provided a clear mechanism against a court judgment. If the prosecution considered a sentence inadequate, it could file an appeal, while a convicted person also had the right to challenge the conviction and sentence before the competent appellate forum.
The minister acknowledged that delays in the disposal of criminal appeals had remained a longstanding problem in the judicial system.
At one stage, he said, death sentence appeals took around six years, while appeals involving life imprisonment could remain pending before high courts for five to seven years.
He said considerable efforts had subsequently been made to reduce the backlog, adding that several years ago even National Accountability Bureau appeals remained undecided for around six years. Tarar said applications relating to early hearing and suspension of sentence in the PTI founder’s cases were before the relevant judicial forums. He urged the opposition to pursue its cases expeditiously through the courts and place its trust in the judicial process.
The minister also referred to proceedings before the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s human rights mechanism in Geneva, saying he had presented relevant documents concerning the PTI founder’s conviction, grievances and rights available to him under the jail manual.
He said the matter had been examined there as well, with the expectation that the PTI founder would be dealt with in accordance with law and prescribed rules.
Tarar said political workers could naturally feel distressed when facing imprisonment, but the answer was not to abandon the legal system.
He urged the opposition to expedite judicial proceedings and pursue the available legal remedies, saying ultimately the courts had to decide the cases.
APP/rzr-raz
