ISLMABAD – Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s children and son-in-law filed two review petitions with the Supreme Court against the Panama Papers case judgment, local media reported.
The application have been submitted by Hussain Nawaz, Hassan Nawaz, Maryam Safdar and Captain (r) Safdar.
A petition has been filed against the three-member implementing bench of Panama case, while the verdict of five-member bench has been challenged in the second application.
The appeals state the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) did not keep in view the requirements for justice while probing the case, adding the reservations regarding the JIT were not considered in the verdict.
The three judges of implementing bench should not take decision just on JIT’s report, the petitions state. The court itself was made complainant in the case in the light of findings, it added.
The court has ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to file references against Captain Safdar despite the fact that there were no allegation against him regarding purchase of London flats, the application stated, adding basic rights have been ignored in the observations made by the court in the verdict.
The applicants also challenged that the appointment of a referee judge for reference is violation of basic rights, besides asking the court to stop implementation on SC’s decision in Panamagate case until a review petition are decided.
Endorsing the stance of their father regarding the five-member bench, they argued that the July 28 decision should have been given by a three-member bench since Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Gulzar Ahmed’s jurisdiction had expired after their dissenting judgement on April 20.
Earlier, Nawaz Sharif filed three petitions in the Supreme Court to review the Panamagate verdict, announced by a five-member bench last month on August 15.
Panama Papers verdict
On April 20, Supreme Court’s Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had announced Panama Leaks case decision comprising 540 pages, saying that the court issued a split ruling calling for a JIT. Two of the five judges went on to brand Sharif “dishonest” and saying he should be disqualified. However, the 3-2 split decision provided Sharif family a chance to prove their innocence and clear their names from Panama leaks.
Following the decision, the apex court formed a six-member inquiry team that included Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Additional Director General Wajid Zia, Military Intelligence’s Brig Kamran Khurshid, National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) Director Irfan Naeem Mangi, State Bank of Pakistan’s Amer Aziz, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan’s (SECP) Executive Director Bilal Rasool and Inter-Services Intelligence’s Brig Muhammad Nauman Saeed.
The JIT members, during the seven-week period, interrogated eight members of Sharif family including Nawaz Sharif, his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif, sons Hassan and Hussain Nawaz, daughter Maryam Nawaz, son-in-law Captain Safdar, cousin Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and brother-in-law Ishaq Dar and submitted its report on July 10.
On July 28, the five-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan after a week-long hearings unanimously disqualified Nawaz Sharif.
“It is hereby declared that having failed to disclose his un-withdrawn receivables constituting assets from Capital FZE Jebel Ali, UAE in his nomination papers filed for the General Elections held in 2013 in terms of Section 12(2)(f) of the Representation of the People Act, 1976 (ROPA), and having furnished a false declaration under solemn affirmation respondent No. 1 Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is not honest in terms of Section 99(f) of ROPA and Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 and therefore he is disqualified to be a Member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament).”
