Panamagate case: Civil, military agencies submit names for JIT

Top court has started examining candidates’ credentials but may notify panel’s composition next week


Hasnaat Malik April 27, 2017
Top court has started examining candidates’ credentials but may notify panel’s composition next week. PHOTO: INP/FILE

ISLAMABAD: As the deadline for the formation of the joint investigation team (JIT) which will investigate the Panamagate case approaches, the civilian and military agencies concerned have submitted the names of candidates to represent them on the panel to the Supreme Court.

Complying with the Panamagate verdict announced last Thursday by the five-judge bench hearing the case, the Supreme Court office had sent letters to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI), asking each of them to recommend three names, one of whom would be picked to represent his or her respective department on the JIT.

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Each agency has sent the three names to the Supreme Court registrar, sources told The Express Tribune on Wednesday. They said the ISI and MI have both proposed the names of three brigadiers each to represent them on the JIT. They added that the top court has started examining the credentials of recommended officials and may notify the composition of the JIT next week.

According to sources, FIA has recommended the names of additional directors general Wajid Zia, Ahmad Latif and Dr Shafiq, SECP has proposed the names of Muzaffar Mirza, Yasir Manzoor and Tariq Bakhtawar and NAB submitted the names of SM Husnain, Muhammad Rizwan and Nauman Aslam.

Interestingly, all departments sent the names a day before the deadline ends.

Meanwhile, the Sharif family has asked members of its legal team to give their opinion in the next few days on whether they should file a review petition against the Panamagate verdict or not, sources said. According to them, senior lawyer Khawaja Haris has already given his legal advice to the Sharifs on the issue.

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The sources said the Sharifs are divided on whether to file a review petition. One section of legal team believes that they should approach the Supreme Court to issue directives that the JIT should investigate the case ‘independently’, without being influenced by the larger bench’s observations about Sharif family members. However, the family’s other lawyers fear the judges may make more observations or pass more adverse remarks about them while hearing the review petition.

COMMENTS (4)

Libra | 6 years ago | Reply JIT; no result, like other JITs.
Haji Atiya | 6 years ago | Reply @zack: Why don't we really be nonpartisan about this and have a legal AI system examine the facts and pronounce judgment ?
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