LAHORE – Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar grilled RailwaysMinister Khawaja Saad Rafique in court today.

He on Saturday ordered the audit of Pakistan Railways over the allegedcorruption to the tune of Rs 60 billion in the public entity.

A two-member bench, headed by the chief justice, issued the orders whilehearing the suo motu case regarding the alleged corruption in the railwaysat the apex court’s Lahore registry where Railways Minister Khawaja SaadRafique also appeared.

During the hearing, a heated exchange of words occurred between theminister and the top judge when the former was called at the rostrum torecord the statement.

Citing a statement of Rafique in which he had said that the PML-N is a hardnut to crack, the CJP ordered the minister to come on the rostrum.

In response, the minister said that his statement was not about you [chiefjustice] but for the political rivals of the party. Addressing the chiefjustice, Rafique said: “I have appeared before the court as you wanted tosee me”.

To which, the chief justice remarked that the court had summoned you,adding that the time has passed when courts were not given respect.

The railway’s minister asked the court to give him some time to present hisviews as he wanted to clear the misunderstandings in this regard, to which,the chief justice ordered him to keep silent.

The minister replied, “I go back if the court does not want to listen tome”. The chief justice said that contempt of court proceedings would beinitiated against you on leaving the court.

The chief justice, later, inquired the minister about the losses incurredby the Pakistan Railways. He also ordered the audit of the publicorganisation and sought a report on it.

On April 7, the CJP took suo moto notice over the alleged corruption inPakistan Railways. During the hearing of the case on Saturday, the chiefjustice remarked that the officers must reveal the causes behind this fraud.