PML-N lawyer asks SC to stop Imran from influencing JIT members

Barrister Danyal Chaudhry terms Chairman PTI as “less of a politician and more of a rogue" in petition

ISLAMABAD: Barrister Danyal Chaudhry – the son of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Chaudhry Tanvir – has approached the top court, requesting it to refrain Imran Khan from influencing a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing offshore businesses of the Sharif family.

Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) have been named as respondents in the petition.



The petitioner, under Article-184 (3) of the constitution, asked the Supreme Court (SC) that a special oath be solemnised to the JIT members that they would complete their task of settling the infamous Panamagate scandal independently without being influenced by Imran Khan’s speeches and other material of similar nature broadcasted on this behalf.

The top court, on Friday, formed a six-member JIT to probe Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his sons in line with its April 20 verdict.

The officials included in the JIT are: Brigadier Nauman Saeed from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Brigadier Kamran Khurshid from the Military Intelligence (MI), Aamer Aziz from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Bilal Rasool from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Irfan Naeem Mangi from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Wajid Zia from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Barrister Danyal Chaudhry, in his petition, has expressed apprehension that if Imran Khan was not stopped from delivering speeches, it would derail the democratic process in the country.

He said “that the acts and speeches of Chairman PTI qua the Panama Papers Scandal decision and the speculations, in respect of the investigation to be carried out by the JIT, is not only contemptuous but also violative of his oath, that he [Imran Khan] took under the constitution provided for the members of the National Assembly.”



“The way Respondent 1 (Imran Khan) is behaving by using the medium loosely controlled by Respondent 2 (PEMRA) tantamount to punish the elected Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” said the petition.

Barrister Danyal Chaudhry continued to allege that Imran Khan was “less of a politician and more of a rogue" who was also an absconder in a case.

He requested the SC to direct the respondents to refrain from any activity which influences the minds of the JIT members.

The top court on April 20, had declared that PM Nawaz and his family failed to justify how they accumulated their offshore assets. A five-judge bench, however, could not reach a consensus on the disqualification of the premier and, hence, ordered the formation of a JIT to settle the saga that started with the Mossack Fonseka leaks just over a year ago.

The bench also asked the JIT to submit fortnightly progress reports as stipulated in the verdict. The case will be taken up on May 22. The SC had already directed the PM and his sons to appear before the JIT.