Perpetual Panama

The Supreme Court has adjourned the Panama Papers hearing until January 2017 at a date likely to be in the first week. If at that time the Supreme Court decides to form a judicial commission to investigate the matter then the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has announced that it will not accept such a panel if so constituted and will boycott it. Further tightening the deadlock the legal team of the Sharif family has said it was in favour of such a commission. The bench agreed that the case will be reheard in 2017 under the incoming Chief Justice Saqib Nisar who will have the power to reconstitute it with a larger membership if he deems fit.

It must be noted that paragraph 2 of a letter from the CJ pertaining to these matters states that the case shall not be considered as part heard, because by January 2017 Mr Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali will have laid down his robe — indicating that the case will be heard again from the beginning. This is the legal equivalent of going back to square one and the nine days of hearings thus far will be void, with legal representatives of all parties being required to resubmit their evidence.

Prior to the case going to court all the petitioners made it clear that they reposed their trust in the wisdom of the judiciary whatever any decision may be by the Honourable Justices, and this is as it should be. For the PTI at this stage of proceedings to say that it would boycott a judicial commission — which it had in the recent past supported — sounds distinctly odd and akin to an infantile tantrum involving the throwing of teddies around the playpen. It is not for the PTI or any other political party to lay the law down for the lawgivers simply because the lawgivers were at variance with the wishes of the PTI. The apex judiciary sits above party politics and has of late displayed a steely independence — it is not there at the beck and call of politicians and the law must take its course unfettered.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2016.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.