ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered further investigations into corruption allegations levelled by the opposition against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, saying there was insufficient evidence to order his removal from office.
“A thorough investigation is required,” Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said, announcing the highly anticipated decision following a months-long hearing stemming from the Panama Papers leak last year that linked PM Sharif´s children to offshore businesses.
Announcing the verdict, Justice Khosa ordered the formation of a Joint Investigation team (JIT) to carry out an investigation into how funds were transferred to Qatar, which the prime minister’s children said led to assets held by his sons through the offshore businesses in Panama.
The Supreme Court ordered the JIT to present its report every two weeks before a Supreme Court bench. The court also ordered Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and his sons Hasan and Hussein to appear before the JIT, which will complete its investigation within 60 days of its formation.
Justice Khosa said the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had failed to carry out his duties.
He said the investigation committee comprising of one senior official each from NAB, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the Military Intelligence (MI) will be tasked to carry out the probe.
The detailed decision by the apex court comprised a total of 540 pages, with the verdict split 3-2 between the five-member apex court bench.
Two dissenting judges on the five-member bench were of the opinion that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had not been honest to the nation and that he should have been disqualified.
The five-member bench led by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had reserved its verdict in the case on February 23. The decision comes ahead of general elections scheduled to be held next year.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan’s detailed judgment spanning over 548 pages began with the epigraph from the cult classic novel ‘The Godfather’ likening the case to the very sentence attributed to Balzac’s original work Le Père Goriot:
The popular 1969 novel ‘The Godfather’ by Mario Puzo recounted the violent tale of a Mafia family and the epigraph selected by the author was fascinating:
Behind every great fortune there is a crime.
— Balzac
The novel was a popular sensation which was made into an acclaimed film. It is believed that this epigraph was inspired by a sentence that was written by Honoré de Balzac and its original version in French reads as follows:
Le secret des grandes fortunes sans cause apparente est un crime oublié, parce qu’il a été proprement fait.
(The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed)
The detailed judgement can be read on the website of Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The ruling Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) called the Supreme Court verdict a victory for the party.
Maryam Nawaz, the prime minister’s daughter, tweeted photographs of Sharif in a celebratory mood with his family, embracing his brother Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.Another picture showed the prime minister with Shahbaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam, Senator Pervaiz Rashid, and other senior PML-N leaders.
Speaking to media following the decision, PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique said that today Nawaz Sharif, his team, PML-N, our voters and all Pakistanis who are advocates of democracy won.
“The order to create a joint investigation team is the victory of the PM’s point of view,†Rafique added.
He added that with Nawaz Sharif in the lead, the PML-N will win in the in the people’s court in 2018. “Not only will we establish our government in all four provinces, we will also get two-thirds majority.”
Speaking to the media in London, the prime minister’s son Hasan Nawaz thanked God for the decision.
‘PM should resign’
Speaking to the media outside the courtroom, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) spokesperson Fawad Hussain called for the prime minister’s resignation.
“If the prime minister has any shame, he should resign today. The prime minister of this country will be presented in front of joint controller of the FIA,” he said.
Two judges “have reached the conclusion that the PM should be disqualified,” he said, referring to the dissenting opinion in the 3-2 split verdict.
The controversy erupted with the publication of the so-called Panama Papers last year, 11.5 million secret documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca which documented the offshore dealings of many of the world’s rich and powerful.
Among the global elite implicated were three of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s – his daughter Maryam, and his sons Hasan and Hussein.
At the heart of the matter was the legitimacy of the funds used by the prime minister’s children to purchase several high-end London properties via offshore companies.
Sharif’s ruling PML-N party had insisted the wealth was acquired legally through family businesses in Pakistan and the Gulf.
But the opposition parties, including the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), argued the paper trail for the funds was non-existent, and that the onus was on PM Nawaz Sharif to prove his relatives did not engage in money laundering.
The case took the country by storm and dominated headlines in the country for over a year now, with all eyes set on the Supreme Court in Islamabad for the much-anticipated verdict.
Security had been beefed up around the Supreme Court at Islamabad’s Constitution Avenue, with additional barriers placed and barbed wires laid around several buildings.
Around 1000 police, Rangers and security personnel were deployed inside and outside the apex court building. A senior police official said entry of irrelevant persons in the Red Zone was blocked, while VIPs’ security guards would also not be able to carry arms with them.
Separately, around 2,500 police officers were deployed in the provincial capital Lahore ahead of the verdict, according to a Punjab police spokesperson. The security force included six superintendents, 29 deputy superintendents, 83 SHOs, 165 upper subordinates, and around 2,400 lower subordinates.
PTI, PML-N workers barred from going to SC
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had barred his party activists from going to the apex court, on the occasion of the announcement of a much-awaited verdict in the Panama leaks case. He said that no irrelevant person needs to go to the Supreme Court.
PTI chairman Imran Khan had also restricted his workers from coming to the apex court. He said only central leaders of the party would go to the SC.
Leaders from the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which has been a major stakeholder in the case, were optimistic for a positive judgment.
Speaking to reporters outside the Supreme Court, PTI central information secretary Naeem ul Haque said his party would accept the Supreme Court’s verdict.
“Imran Khan has repeatedly said that the party will accept the SC’s verdict. We respect Pakistani courts and the SC is the highest court in Pakistan’s judicial hierarchy,” Haque said.
“The SC’s verdict on this case will be in favor of all Pakistani citizens,” the PTI leader added.
Earlier on Wednesday, PTI leader Asad Umar said it was clear to him what the verdict would be.
“The evidence we saw during the last 12 months, the facts that were put before the nation, and what was presented to the Supreme Court. All facts and evidence are against Mian sb. When the nation sees that [Prime Minister] Nawaz Sharif could not bring anything other than the one Qatari letter, it is clear to us what the verdict will be,” said PTI leader Asad Umar.
