ISLAMABAD: A special Supreme Court bench formed to oversee the investigation into the prime minister’s family’s financial dealings abroad will hear the premier’s son’s petition questioning the credibility of two investigators.
Hussain Nawaz has petitioned the apex court against the alleged bias of two members of the Joint Investigation Team in the Panama case.
The three-judge special bench will take up his plea, objecting to Amer Aziz and Bilal Rasool, who respectively represent the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in the six-member JIT.
Hussain, in a petition filed to the Supreme Court that is set to be heard today, has objected to two JIT members, questioning their partiality
Hussain has claimed that the JIT member from the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Bilal Rasool, is the nephew of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Mian Azhar. Azhar, a former governor of Punjab, was originally affiliated with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz but later joined the PML-Q and then PTI.
Hussain has claimed that despite being a public servant, Bilal also frequently speaks against the ruling federal government, while his wife is also a supporter of the PTI and PML-Q.
Regarding the JIT member from the State Bank of Pakistan, Amir Aziz, Hussain says he was part of the investigation team in the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case during the regime of former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf. Aziz also threatened the premier’s cousin, Tariq Shafi, while investigating him in the Panama case, Hussain has alleged. Aziz also allegedly directed Shafi to take back his sworn statement, according to Hussain’s petition.
On Sunday, Hussain appeared before the JIT for almost two hours to record his statement after he was summoned by the high-profile probe body. He is expected to submit the relevant records with the JIT on Tuesday.