ISLAMABAD – Nawaz Sharif has hit out hard at Chief Justice of Pakistan.

He said on Monday that recent actions by the top judiciary indicate that aregime worse than a martial law has been imposed across Pakistan.

Speaking to reporters inside the accountability court in Islamabad, Sharifclaimed: “What is prevalent in the country is not democracy, but the worstkind of dictatorship under [Chief Justice Mian] Saqib Nisar.”

“What is happening in the country is not less than a ‘judicial martiallaw’,” said the former prime minister, who returned from London late onSunday after seeing his ailing wife Kulsoom Nawaz, who has been undergoingcancer treatment there.

Criticising recent judgements by the courts as “illogical”, Sharif said thealleged silencing of 220 million people of Pakistan would not be acceptableto him.

“These many restrictions were not even imposed during the martial laws thatwe are seeing today,” he remarked.