‘Aziz was afraid he could be tried in Steel Mills case’

ISLAMABAD — Former Steel Mills chief Lt-Gen (retd) Abdul Qayyum has said that former premier Shaukat Aziz was afraid he would be tried on criminal charges after Supreme Court annulled the privatisation of the Steel Mills citing gross irregularities.
He said that differences between Gen. Pervez Musharraf and deposed chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry cropped up over the privatisation of the Steel Mills. Shaukat Aziz was particularly perturbed and provoked Musharraf to sack Iftikhar, he said.
In an interview with a private TV channel, Qayyum said he had opposed the privatisation and written a letter to President Musharraf that the sale deed was dubious and the price settled in the contract was far below the net value.
He said when the case was being heard, President Musharraf called him (Justice Iftikhar) and asked the case should be decided in a manner that it does not cause any harm to the investment process from abroad.
To this, Justice Iftikhar said: “You shouldn’t worry. I will decide the case in the best interest of the country.” The next day when the judgment in the case came, it was totally against the expectations of the president. It was then that a row between the president and the then chief justice ensued.