Ahead of PTI’s protest: Top court to hear Panamagate case on November 1

Court will decide maintainability of petitions, says AGP

ISLAMABAD: The top court has set November 1 for hearing of the Panamgate case, a day before the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) planned Islamabad protest, aimed at forcing the prime minister to present himself for accountability in the wake of the offshore companies’ scandal.

Panama Papers on April 3 revealed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s three children were among dozens of powerful people to own offshore companies in international tax havens. The revelations had whipped up a storm with political parties, including the PTI, calling for the PM’s accountability.

Later, the PTI as well as some other political parties also filed petitions in the apex court, seeking disqualification of the prime minister.  The court on September 27 admitted these petitions, after removing objections raised by its registrar office.

Legal experts believe that the top court’s next hearing will be significant as it will determine whether it can intervene into the matter or not. The AGP Ashtar Ausaf Ali says that the court will decide the maintainability of these petitions on November 1.

The government’s legal team has already started its preparation of the case.

Former AGP Salman Aslam Butt will likely to represent Nawaz Sharif in the apex court. Sources claim that the PM’s son Hussain Nawaz may appear before the bench on the next date of hearing.

The AGP office on Friday clarified that the AGP is playing his constitutional role and he is not representing any individual in any case. Earlier, PTI chief Imran Khan expressed wonder as to how the attorney general could represent the prime minister in his private case.

The Supreme Court’s office on Friday formally issued notices to petitioners, respondents and Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) for resuming hearing of the matter. The notices have been issued to 24 individuals in this case.

The SC’s three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Anwar Zaheer Jamali and comprising Justice Ijazul Hassan and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, will take up the five petitions respectively filed by Imran Khan, Jamaat-e- Islami  chief Sirajul Haq, Pakistan Awami League chief Sheikh Rasheed, Barrister Zafarullah and Tariq Asad Advocate.

“Having heard the learned ASCs [lawyers] for the petitioners and the petitioners [themselves] in-person at some length, we are inclined to issue notices to the respondents and the AGP accordingly. Office to re-list these cases within two weeks,” read the written order of the bench.

The petitions have named the PM Nawaz; his sons, Hassan and Hussain; his daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif; his son-in-law [Maryam’s husband] Capt Muhammad Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

The have also nominated the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the secretaries of the ministries of law and interior among respondents.

The court also issued notices to the AGP and NAB chairman over a petition filed by journalist Asad Kharral, seeking a progress report from the bureau regarding an investigation into his complaint about Rs100 billion worth of corruption in connection to Panamagate.

However, Tariq Asad listed the PTI chief as a respondent in his petition, and therefore, he has also been issued a notice. The respondents have been directed to bring their original national identity cards.

Asad, in his main petition, contended that the previous 2014 sit-in (dharna) of respondent No. 4 (Imran Khan) had made the lives of Islamabad citizens miserable. Recently, he also filed a miscellaneous application in Panama leaks case, requesting to restrain the PTI from holding another sit-in.

However, the court on Thursday refused to pass an order to restrain the PTI from holding a sit-in in the federal capital on November 2. Tariq Asad told The Express Tribune that he will move a plea today (Saturday) for the early hearing his application for stopping the PTI’s sit-in.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2016.