Panama verdict

Finally much-awaited Supreme Court decision on Panama Gate announced .The Supreme Court 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.Announcing the operative part of the verdict spanning over five hundred and forty pages , Justice Khosa ordered the formation of a Joint Investigation team (JIT) to carry out investigation into how funds were transferred to Qatar, which the prime minister’s children said led to assets acquiring held by his sons through the offshore businesses in Panama. It was a split verdict of 3:2.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 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 JIT may also examine the evidence and material, if any, already available with the FIA and NAB relating to or having any nexus with the possession or acquisition of the aforesaid flats or any other assets or pecuniary resources and their origin. The JIT shall submit its periodical reports every two weeks before a Bench of this Court constituted in this behalf. The JIT shall complete the investigation and submit its final report before the Bench within a period of sixty days from the date of its constitution. The Bench thereupon may pass appropriate orders including an order for filing a reference against respondent No. 1 and any other person having nexus with the crime if justified on the basis of the material thus brought on the record before it.The opposition parties have demanded that the PM resign during the investigation to ensure the JIT’s independence and even-handedness and re-assume the office only after proving himself innocent. It seems the decision has failed to put an end to split in the country as opposition parties are preparing to start jointly protest in country to pressurize PM.
The opposition may exploit the situation to pave way for using this issue for their political campaigns for upcoming elections. The decision has also put the government in difficulty because it will be difficult for PM to present before his subordinates. So the future of the Prime Minister would remain in limbo till the finalisation of JIT report and the final decision. We hope that government’s focus on development agenda will not be affected and work on ongoing projects will be completed on time. The opposition parties should not exploit the situation for vested political interests because their protests may put country into chaos and it would be detrimental for the interest of the country.