Monday, Jul 10, 2017

Islamabad: A team of investigators tasked by the Supreme Court to probe allegations of corruption and money-laundering against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family submitted its final report to the apex court on Monday, after the conclusion of the two-month inquiry.

In its final report to the Supreme Court, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) recommended that the National Accountability Bureau should initiate a case against the prime minister and his family over disparities between their known sources of income and their actual wealth, local news channels said.

The probe panel said cases should be filed against PM Nawaz Sharif and his sons Hassan and Hussain Nawaz, as well as daughter Maryam, under Section 9 of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordinance 1999.

The JIT said the value assets owned by the four respondents had been found to exceed their known sources of income, according to the reports.

Coinciding with the submission of the JIT report, the chairman of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party Imran Khan, the main petitioner in the Panama Papers case, renewed his demand that the prime minister step down.

The report consisting of 11 volumes packed in sealed boxes was delivered amid extraordinary security to a three-judge bench which allowed petitioners in the Panama Papers case as well as the respondents, members of the ruling family, to obtain copy of the report from the court’s registrar office.

However, the six-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) headed by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) senior official Wajid Zia requested the bench not make public the report’s Volume 10 — related to mutual legal assistance from foreign governments.

Directing the counsels of both sides to appear incourt on July 17 (Monday) for further hearing, the three-judge special bench, which is supervising implementation of the top court’s April 20 verdict in the Panama Papers case, ordered provision of security to the JIT members and their families.

The bench also ordered that no action will be taken against members of the probe body without informing the apex court.

Besides the FIA official, the JIT included representatives of the State Bank, Security Exchange Commission, Natinal Accountability Bureau, Inter-Services Intelligence Agency and military intelligence.

The probe was ordered in the April 20 majority 3-2 verdict by a five-judge bench that had heard the Panama case related to Sharif family’s business dealings and assets including expensive flats in an upscale part of London.

In dissenting notes two judges had ruled that the prime minister was not honest and trusty and should be disqualified.

During Monday’s hearing, the special bench took strong exception to “misreporting” about the JIT by a media group and ordered issuing of contempt notices to its owners and a reporter.

The bench also summoned the transcripts of the speeches of a number of ruling party leaders regarding the conduct of JIT. It also sought complete detail of advertisements given by the government to different media groups.

Additionally, the bench ordered registration of a criminal case against Zafar Hijazi, chairman of the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), for his alleged involvement in tampering records of the companies owned by the ruling family. An FIA inquiry had found the SECP chief guilty of the act.

The bench also ordered that the name and institution of the individual responsible for leaking a photo of the prime minister’s son Hussain Nawaz sitting before the JIT should be made public, leaving it to the government to form a commission, if needed, to probe the matter.

The JIT report consists of statements recorded by PM Nawaz; Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif; the PM’s children Hussain, Hassan and Maryam Nawaz Sharif and others including PM’s son-in-law Mohammad Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

The probe body did not record the statement of former Qatari premier Shaikh Hamad Bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, who had submitted two letters to the court during the hearing of the Panama Papers case regarding Sharif family’s businesses in Qatar.

The JIT remained under fire from leaders of ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) throughout its proceedings. They accused it of being biased and alleged there was a conspiracy for ouster of the third-time elected prime minister.

Opposition leaders in public statements underscored the importance of the expected final decision of the apex court in the Panama Papers case in the coming weeks for building a corruption-free country.

By Mohsin Ali Correspondent

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