ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court of Pakistan has adjourned the hearing of a slew of Panama Leaks petitions till Thursday.
During today’s hearing, Advocate Tariq Asad who is representing the Sharif family argued that the apex court should not deal the case swiftly as justice would not be served then. Negating the argument CJ expressed that justice would be served even then. He exclaimed that if the court investigates corruption from 1947, it would take two decades for completion of investigations.
CJ Jamali also said that the investigations into any allegation of corruption was not the mandate of the court as local courts are effective for that purpose.
He said that as many as 700 pages were submitted by PTI whereas the Sharif family submitted a 1600 pages response. CJ reiterated that the court was not an investigative agency adding that it could not scan the hefty documents in a scant period of time.
He added that the court had received documents and now a commission would be constituted to probe into the matter.
Moreover, Justice Azmat Saeed said that the documents submitted by PTI had no link with the case and so the truth was buried by the party itself. He went on to inquire about what the court should do as Chairman NAB (National Accountability Bureau) went to China on self-imposed exile.
Justice Azmat said that there was no need of documents submitted by PTI’s counsel Naeem Bukhari. He claimed that press clippings could not be presented as evidence and so the court could not announce the verdict merely on the basis of that.
Barrister Akram Sheikh who has been recently appointed as counsel by PM’s sons argued that the ruler of Dubai helped Sharif family for installation of Gulf steel mill and no money was taken out of Pakistan for that.
Reflecting the argument, the court indicated that the statement negates the premier’s statement which he made in National Assembly.
Akram noted that he would assist the court irrespective of the verdict. He sought permission about presentation of a document by prince of Qatar Hamad bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Muhammed Al Thani depicting that the flats were purchased by Qatar prince and were handed over to PM’s sons.
He added that he was representing PM’s sons instead of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and so Salman Butt would be representing PM Nawaz in court.
A five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali adjourned the hearing till November 17.
Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister’s scions submitted documents in the Supreme Court of Pakistan regarding Panama Leaks petitions.
According to the documents submitted, Hussain Nawaz has been declared beneficiary whereas Maryam Safdar has been nominated as trustee of the off-shore companies in a trust deed.
The documents submitted suggest that the agreement was inked in February 2006 between Hussain Nawaz and Maryam Safdar regarding three companies named Nielson Holdings Limited, Coomber Group and Nescol limited.
In case, beneficiary Hussain Nawaz dies, the trustee Maryam Safdar would sell the shares of the mentioned companies whereas if beneficiary Maryam Safdar dies or suffers from mental illness, her shares would be managed by Hussain Nawaz.
If there’s any liability or debt, the trustee would pay and clear it before distribution of the money earned from shares.
Moreover, Harvard Kennedy law firm had verified the trust deed and so the deed is admissible in any British court in favour of Hussain Nawaz.
The petitions seeking Prime Minister disqualification over Panama Leaks issue were filed by multiple political parties including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Siraj-ul-Hag and Awami Muslim League’s Sheikh Rashid Ahmad.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had submitted documentary evidence comprising of 686 pages against Sharif family on Monday.
