ISLAMABAD, FEB 27 (DNA) – Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Tuesday stressed that he as well as the other Supreme Court judges are devoid of any political inclination.

“We have no political agenda,” said Justice Nisar while hearing a suo motu case regarding a hike in prices of medicines.

“I was the smallest lawyer [in stature] of the country,” Justice Nisar said, adding: “Even now I am the smallest judge.”

He said that the time has arrived to show that something is being done and that he simply wants people to be given their rights. “I do not even want to touch political cases,” said Justice Nisar, who has faced criticism especially from the ruling PML-N over what the party calls “unbecoming language” and his rulings.

“In the pensions case, we [the bench] got the pension increased from Rs1,300 to Rs8,000 for widows so that they can at least buy a painkiller for themselves,” Justice Nisar said.

The CJP said that the court does not want anyone to bear any losses, reiterating that the court did not have any political purpose. “If anyone wants to test us, now is the time.”

Last week, a day after handing down a judgement barring ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif from heading PML-N, Justice Nisar had provided the justification for his remarks made earlier that he was a fighter and would continue to fight.

Without quoting the name of any politician, Justice Nisar had said that someone had objected to his remarks and clarified that he was fighting against social menace.

He had conceded that the superior judiciary had detracted from its direction but “it was never too late to set the direction right”. He also said that it was a fault on the part of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) — headed by the chief justice himself — for the delay in making decision on the references against judges of the superior courts.