Pakistan Army pledges to play its due role in Panama probe

RAWALPINDI - The Army on Monday pledged to play its role in a legal and transparent manner in the Joint Investigation Team for the Panama Case, and to fulfill the confidence reposed in the institution by the Supreme Court.

Top military commanders discussed the Panama case decision, announced by the Supreme Court last week, and the JIT ordered by the apex court, during the 202nd Corp Commander's conference held at the General Headquarters.

In a statement released by the DG ISPR Maj-General Asif Ghafoor, the forum pledged that the "institution through its members in JIT shall play its due role in a legal and transparent manner fulfilling confidence reposed by the Apex Court of Pakistan".

CCC at GHQ. "Institution, through its members in JIT shall play its due role in a legal & transparent manner fulfilling confd reposed by SC" pic.twitter.com/H9wRjrz7P1

— Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) April 24, 2017

In its split ruling last week, the Supreme Court had ordered the formation of a six-member JIT to probe corruption allegations by opposition parties against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Panama case.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/historic-panama-case-verdict-announced-court-orders-formation-of-jit-to-investigate-sharif-family/

The top court had ordered the inclusion of one member each from the Military Intelligence and the Inter-Services Intelligence in the six-member team, which will carry out an investigation into funds used by the prime minister's children to buy properties in London through offshore businesses.

The investigation team will also comprise of one senior officer each from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The apex court has ordered the heads of the six departments and institutions, including the ISI and MI, to recommend names of their nominees for the JIT within seven days. Names of the six nominated officers will be placed before the apex court bench for their approval before they can begin their probe into the allegations.

The court has also ordered Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and his two sons Hasan and Hussein Nawaz to "appear and associate themselves with the JIT as and when required".

The investigation team has to complete its report and submit it to the apex court within 60 days of its formation.

Analysts have termed the ISPR statement, the first response from the Pakistan Army since the Supreme Court verdict on Thursday, as a significant development in the days leading up to the formation of the investigation team.