SC emphatically rules out change in JIT makeup

Throw Qatari prince’s letter out of window if he refuses to appear before JIT, says bench

ISLAMABAD: In an embarrassing blow to the Sharif family, the top court on Monday threw out the objections raised by Hussain Nawaz over two members of a team investigating the offshore financial assets of the ruling family.

“The Supreme Court will not remove any member of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on the basis of mere suspicions,” observed Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, the head of a three-judge special bench the Supreme Court has formed to ensure implementation of its April 20 verdict in Panamagate case.

The bench was hearing a plea filed by Hussain Nawaz, the prime minister’s son, against two members of the JIT. The judges made it clear that they would intervene only if they found any bias and immediately remove the member concerned.

The bench asked the JIT to disregard the Qatari prince’s letter if he did not appear in person before them. The respondents (Sharif family) will have to face the consequences if the Qatari prince fails to appear before the JIT, it observed.



However, the bench urged the JIT to give due respect to all persons being summoned for questioning.

“If the court opts to remove any member of the JIT on the basis of someone’s suspicion, then we will have to summon [the help of] angels to investigate the matter [Panamagate],” remarked Justice Ejaz. “We are not going to remove, change or eliminate any [JIT member] unless there is concrete evidence [against him or her].”

Justice Ejaz said: “We will not [be moved] by [mere] surmises and conjectures.”

He said that the JIT would be allowed to collect evidence and if at any time, the court noticed partiality or partisanship, it would effectively deal with relevant JIT members.

He observed that the court did not want to lose sight of the purpose of the investigation. “We will not allow the JIT members to deviate from the course of law … We are examining JIT reports and will take action whenever we feel the required information is not produced.”



Justice Ejaz urged all JIT members to work in an independent and fair manner.

Another member of the bench, Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh, asked Khawaja Haris, the counsel for Hussain Nawaz, not to ‘dictate’ the JIT. Neither the accused nor the witnesses could dictate interrogators, he added.

He said the prime minister, who controlled everything, could not be allowed to pick a team of his choice for this investigation.

Justice Azmat wondered why the Sharif family was targeting just two members who had expertise in investigating white-collar crimes.

When Khawaja Haris complained about the behaviour of the JIT members, Justice Azmat remarked that the Sharif family had been summoned for interrogation and ‘not to a tea party’.



Justice Ijazul Ahsen, the third member of the bench, said: “You must remember … that there are six members on the JIT, which is collecting evidence on the direction of the apex court”.

He observed that the court did not want to discourage the JIT, adding that they had been given a 60-day deadline and they were diligently working “even on Saturdays and Sundays”.

During the hearing, Khawaja Haris objected over the video and audio recordings of witnesses and Sharif family during the interrogation. He stated that both JIT members have become ‘pharaoh’.

The counsel also submitted a three-page affidavit filed by the PM’s cousin, Tariq Shafi. The affidavit stated that at least two JIT members had treated him in the “most humiliating, arrogant … and derogatory manner”.



It identified one JIT member, Amer Aziz, but did not name the second, just stating that the other JIT member was of “fair complexion, tall and had a short white beard” and accused him of ‘literally shouting at him’ and repeatedly calling him ‘a liar’.

Shafi submitted that he had been warned to withdraw his affidavit regarding the Gulf Steel Mills. He further submitted that when he got confused over ‘some misleading questions’ and sought to consult his lawyer, the JIT members did not allow him access to his lawyer.

SC angered over non-appearance of NBP CEO

Meanwhile, the JIT started probing the Rs1.2 billion Hudabiya Paper Mills money laundering scam against the Sharif family.

The team had summoned the CEO of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Saeed Ahmad, for questioning on last Saturday, but Saeed did not appear.

When the JIT head, Wajid Zia, appeared before the bench on Monday, the bench expressed anger in this regard.



“We know how to deal with such people. I personally feel that a non-bailable warrant should be issued to ensure that his [NBP’s CEO] appearance before the JIT,” Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh said.

The bench observed that if Saeed did not appear before the JIT, then law should take its course.

Wajid Zia told the bench that two other witnesses, Kashif Qazi and Qatari Prince Hammad bin Jassim, also did not appear.

Kashif Qazi, the son of Javed Qazi, stated that he did not appear because of security concerns. The bench observed that he should be provided adequate security.

It is alleged that Kashif’s family had acted as facilitator in the alleged money laundering case in the 1990s. Earlier, Wajid Zia stated that the Qatari prince had not replied to the summons issued by the JIT.

JIT again summons Hussain

The JIT served a summon on the PM’s son for the third time, requiring him to appear before the team on Tuesday (today).