SC names special Panamagate bench

Three-member bench holds its first hearing today

ISLAMABAD: A three-judge special bench has been constituted to implement the Supreme Court’s April 20 judgment ordering a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the offshore properties of the Sharif family.

The special bench constituted by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar comprises Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh and Justice Ijazul Ahsen. It will hold its first hearing today (Wednesday) at 1:30 pm.

The same judges had signed off on the majority judgment and referred the Panamagate matter for further probe. The special bench may announce the JIT they had proposed in the April 20 verdict. The judges had requested the CJP to constitute a special bench to ensure implementation of this judgment so that the investigation into the allegations may not be left in a blind alley.

Interestingly, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Gulzar Ahmad, who wrote the minority opinions in the April 20 verdict, have not been included in the special bench.  Both judges opined that the PM should have been removed from his seat in the National Assembly.

In line with the Panamagate verdict, the Supreme Court office 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), Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) asking each of them to recommend three names, of whom one would be picked to represent his or her respective department in the JIT.



Each agency sent in their three names to the Supreme Court registrar by April 26. The ISI and MI have both proposed the names of brigadier-rank officers to represent them. Later, the SC office started examining the credentials of the 18 officials recommended by the six departments.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the SC had shown reservations over the names submitted by the FIA. Likewise, in the prevailing political situation, the SC is also keenly examining the names of the military officials recommended for the JIT. The SC has also nominated Additional Registrar Muhammad Ali as a coordinator to liaise between the JIT and the special bench.

The JIT shall submit biweekly reports before a special bench during the sixty-day period it has been given to file its final report.

Quizzing the PM

It is unprecedented for a sitting prime minister to be quizzed by officials from civil and military institutions regarding their alleged offshore holdings. The premier has denied any wrongdoing since the scandal first surfaced in April 2016, when the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reported on a huge cache of documents from a Panamanian legal firm that had been leaked to it.

Although the majority of 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.

Meanwhile, the Sharif family’s legal team is still indecisive regarding the filing of review petition on the April 20 ruling. Sources told The Express Tribune that senior lawyer Khawaja Haris has recommended that the family members file reviews on the observations given by some judges. The legal team members are, however, still deliberating whether or not the review should be filed, as some members of the team are not in favour of the move. Meanwhile, a member of the PTI’s legal team said that they will evolve a future strategy after today’s special bench hearing.



At the same time, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Rashid Rizvi has expressed serious reservations over the inclusion of military officials as JIT members.

A Tuesday meeting of the SCBA executive committee saw members divided in their views on the Panama leaks issue.

The SCBA president and secretary have requested the Pakistan Bar Council to postpone the ‘All Lawyers Representatives Convention’ until May 20.  The convention was scheduled for May 5 but there is little chance that the duo would be able to attend the conference on that date.

Despite this, 15 SCBA executive body members led by Shabbeer Shar have announced that they would participate in the PBC’s convention on May 5. These members all belong to the Asma Jahangir group.