Top judge reinstates PTI, JI petitions

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Anwar Zaheer Jamali set aside on Tuesday objections raised by the registrar’s office, reinstating petitions submitted by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) which called for instituting a probe into the information contained in Panama Papers.

Passing an order, the chief justice observed: “It seems that the (registrar) office’s objections on the maintainability of these petitions are ill-founded. These appeals are therefore, allowed and … all … objections are set aside. The objections on the maintainability of these petitions, if any, will be examined by the court itself.”



Hamid Khan and Naeem Bukhari appeared on behalf of the PTI while Asad Manzoor Butt represented the JI during the hearing of appeals. Tariq Asad and Barrister Zafarullah, who had submitted similar petitions, were also allowed to attend the hearing.

A senior SC official said that these petitions were likely to be taken up in the first week of October.

Earlier, the Supreme Court’s Registrar’s Office had objected and returned the petitions. Both parties had challenged the decision.

PTI’s Ishaq Khan Khakwani told The Express Tribune that it remained to be seen how the Supreme Court dealt with the matter of Panama Leaks.

Terming it a matter of grave public importance, he urged the apex court to constitute a larger bench.

On the other hand, the chief of JI requested the SC to order investigating agencies to start a probe.

Interestingly, the JI petition did not name the PM as a respondent in the petition.

In his petition, Tariq Asad called for appointing a high-level judicial commission to investigate the alleged investments in offshore companies made by members of the prime minister’s family and others.

However, Barrister Zafarullah opposed initiating any action on Panama Leaks, maintaining that “offshore investments are not illegal.

He stated: “Sending money abroad is neither prohibited nor illegal.”

Terming it an attempt to settle political disputes, he also submitted that formation of any such commission would be an exercise in futility and a waste of money and time.

At the moment, Opposition parties are simultaneously engaged in raising the Panamagate issue before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the Speaker of the National Assembly, high courts and the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Bar Association’s (SCBA) president Ali Zafar still believes that the apex court would not interfere in this matter under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution. Similarly, he said, the ECP had no legal authority to record evidence in this matter and the speaker’s ruling could not be challenged in the high courts.

According to him, parliament was the only forum where the issue could be settled by introducing legislation for empowering a commission to probe the matter.

However, the SCBA president favoured the PTI’s protest for compelling the federal government to investigate the matter.

A senior PML-N lawyer said that they had objections over the maintainability of these petitions.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2016.