Army to play ‘due role’ in JIT

Corps commanders said to have also discussed nominees from ISI, MI

ISLAMABAD: The army would play its ‘due role’ through its institutions, as asked by the Supreme Court, to probe the Panama scandal revolving around the offshore assets of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members, said an official announcement after a high-level huddle at the military headquarters on Monday.

When the military brass gathered at the GHQ in Rawalpindi for a monthly corps commanders’ conference presided over by army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the main talking point was the apex court’s judgment in the Panamagate case.

In a brief but telling statement, the military’s media wing said the commanders discussed the Panama case decision by the Supreme Court with special reference to the Joint Investigation Team (JIT).

“The forum pledged that the institution, through its members in the JIT, shall play its due role in a legal and transparent manner fulfilling confidence reposed by the apex court of Pakistan,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in the statement.

CCC at GHQ. "Institution, through its members in JIT shall play its due role in a legal & transparent manner fulfilling confd reposed by SC" pic.twitter.com/H9wRjrz7P1

— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) April 24, 2017

The statement is seen significant given the concerns raised by some opposition politicians, including PPP’s senior leader Aitzaz Ahsan, who after the Supreme Court’s verdict questioned the Sharif family’s links between the incumbent ISI chief and Maryam Nawaz.

The PPP stalwart’s remarks implied that the prime minister might influence the premier intelligence agency because of these connections. Ahsan’s statement was, however, rebutted by the ISPR which insisted that the credibility of the army’s institutions was beyond reproach.

Last Thursday, the prime minister narrowly escaped disqualification when a split verdict of a five-member apex court bench ruled on a slew of petitions filed by opposition parties.

In the highly anticipated judgment, the top court ordered the formation of a JIT to probe the offshore assets of the prime minister and his two sons.

The JIT, according to the court ruling, would comprise representatives from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) as well as officials from the Military Intelligence (MI) and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).



The Supreme Court directed the heads of the institutions to nominate their respective representatives for the JIT, which would now take the lingering Panama scandal to its logical conclusion.

Although the army would not provide specific details, official sources suggested that the corps commanders also discussed the possible nominees from the ISI and MI for the JIT. It is expected that officers of the rank of brigadier would be nominated for the Panama probe.

The JIT is supposed to be constituted within a week of the court judgment. The apex court has ordered Premier Sharif as well as his two sons—Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz — to appear before the JIT, which would be given 60 days to complete its task.

It is rare and unprecedented that a sitting prime minister would be quizzed by officials from civil and military institutions for his offshore companies.

The premier has all along denied any wrongdoing since the scandal first surfaced when documents from a Panamian legal firm was leaked by a consortium of international investigative journalists in April last year.

Although majority judges ruled against Premier Sharif’s sacking, the 545-page ruling did raise serious questions about the failure of the prime minister and his legal team to justify his family’s offshore holdings.