PML-N, PPP reject appointment of ex-SC judge to head Broadsheet inquiry.

The PML-N and PPP on Friday rejected the government's move to appoint retired Supreme Court judge Azmat Saeed Sheikh as head of the Broadsheet inquiry committee, citing his past affiliation with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as creating a "conflict of interest".

"Handing over investigations to those who should [themselves] be investigated is the murder of justice. [Prime Minister] Imran Khan, have the courage to tell the nation you need a NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance)," said PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb.

The statement said the appointment of the retired judge was a "big fraud" and "controversial" since Justice Sheikh had served as deputy prosecutor general of NAB during the original signing of the Broadsheet agreement and was one of the negotiators in the deal along with being a senior legal officer at the time.

The statement further said Justice Sheikh also served as a member of the board of governors of the Shaukat Khanum Hospital, adding that this showed PM Imran's "ill-intent" behind handing over the Broadsheet inquiry to him.

"How can the investigation conducted by the former deputy prosecutor general be transparent and fair?" questioned the statement, adding that "being a legal officer, he [Justice Sheikh] had fully understood the document of agreement with Broadsheet."

She further alleged that the as deputy prosecutor general, Sheikh had also been tasked with making cases against PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif during Pervez Musharraf's era. Therefore, she said, "no one should be a judge in his own case or in the case of those with whom he has a relationship or conflict [of interest]."

"The nation wants accountability for those who loot and squander their earnings, sprinkling salt on the wounds is not a joke," said the statement.

Addressing a press conference later in the day, PML-N leader and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi called upon Justice Sheikh not to become the chairman of the inquiry commission.

He claimed that the retired judge was "directly working for the people who signed" the agreement with Broadsheet in year 2000 and that "he is part of this agreement."

Sheikh "was working for the people committed corruption of billions through this agreement", the PML-N leader alleged.

He said he did not have any hope from such a commission to unearth the facts about the scandal and tell the public "who wasted away Rs1,000 crore of the nation".

"Is is Azmat Saeed's test today to not make himself...