Criticising JIT detrimental for democracy: PPP
Khursheed Shah urges govt to refrain from creating hurdles in the way of justice
Opposition leader Khursheed Shah. PHOTO: INP
ISLAMABAD:
A day before the Joint Investigation team is set to submit its report, probing the Sharif family’s assets in the Panamagate case before the Supreme Court, Pakistan Peoples Party on Sunday denounced the threat by PML-N ministers to reject the JIT report if it failed to record the evidence of the Qatari prince.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah said that the Nawaz Sharif-led government wants to create hurdles in the way of justice.
“Efforts of PML-N can be detrimental for the country, nation, democracy and parliament,” the opposition leader in the National Assembly warned.
He said that the letter by Qatari prince has no legal value and is avoiding appearing before the JIT despite repeated efforts.
“If the letter of the Qatari prince is accepted then every tax evader and money launderer will mock the law with letter of a prince,” he added.
He said that the threatening attitude of the Sharif family and the PML-N ministers reveals that they are trying to hide the facts from the people.
Qatari prince’s ‘refusal’ to appear before JIT has put PML-N in dire straits: PTI
He said that PPP never attacked the judiciary despite its leader being given death sentences but the PML-N government had been let off the hook many times.
“The attitude of the ruling party can produce dangerous results,” he added.
In a separate statement, PPP spokesperson Farhatullah Babar denounced PML-N leaders’ threats.
“From the very start the ruling family sought to run away from the JIT. The latest outbursts in unison by some federal ministers rejecting JIT even before it has finalised its report strengthens the perception the PML-N is hell bent to reject JIT report regardless of whether the Qatari prince appeared before the JIT or not,” PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said in a press conference.
Four top ministers in Premier Nawaz Sharif’s cabinet—Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Khawaja Saad Rafique and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi—directly attacked the JIT on Saturday and declared to act in defiance if the JIT report came against ‘the will of the public’.
The four ministers unanimously agreed that if the JIT failed to record Qatari prince [Hamad bin Jassim]’s statement in the report they reject it.
Govt to reject JIT’s report sans prince’s testimony
In response to the PML-N ministers press conference, Babar said that being the defence witness it the responsibility of the respondents, in this case the ruling family, to produce the Qatari prince before the JIT and the court.
“The burden of not producing its witness before the investigation team or court will have to be borne by the ruling family and no one else,” he said adding that the same principle was applied when the former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani appeared before the Supreme Court in the case of writing letter to Swiss authorities against the president of the country.
The fuming and fulminating ministers of PML-N have made much of the JIT quizzing former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf at his residence in the treason case and that of Mark Seigal in Washington through video conferencing in the Shaheed Benazir murder case, the PPP spokesperson said.
“This comparison however misses a fundamental point; technically Musharraf was quizzed in jail as his residence was declared sub jail. Mark Seigal, on the other hand, recorded his statement through video conferences from the Pakistan Embassy in Washington and not from his home,” Babar said.
He further said that if the Qatari prince wishes to record statement through video conference he has to do so from Pakistan embassy in Doha and it is the responsibility of the respondents to ensure that he does so.
A day before the Joint Investigation team is set to submit its report, probing the Sharif family’s assets in the Panamagate case before the Supreme Court, Pakistan Peoples Party on Sunday denounced the threat by PML-N ministers to reject the JIT report if it failed to record the evidence of the Qatari prince.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah said that the Nawaz Sharif-led government wants to create hurdles in the way of justice.
“Efforts of PML-N can be detrimental for the country, nation, democracy and parliament,” the opposition leader in the National Assembly warned.
He said that the letter by Qatari prince has no legal value and is avoiding appearing before the JIT despite repeated efforts.
“If the letter of the Qatari prince is accepted then every tax evader and money launderer will mock the law with letter of a prince,” he added.
He said that the threatening attitude of the Sharif family and the PML-N ministers reveals that they are trying to hide the facts from the people.
Qatari prince’s ‘refusal’ to appear before JIT has put PML-N in dire straits: PTI
He said that PPP never attacked the judiciary despite its leader being given death sentences but the PML-N government had been let off the hook many times.
“The attitude of the ruling party can produce dangerous results,” he added.
In a separate statement, PPP spokesperson Farhatullah Babar denounced PML-N leaders’ threats.
“From the very start the ruling family sought to run away from the JIT. The latest outbursts in unison by some federal ministers rejecting JIT even before it has finalised its report strengthens the perception the PML-N is hell bent to reject JIT report regardless of whether the Qatari prince appeared before the JIT or not,” PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said in a press conference.
Four top ministers in Premier Nawaz Sharif’s cabinet—Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Khawaja Saad Rafique and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi—directly attacked the JIT on Saturday and declared to act in defiance if the JIT report came against ‘the will of the public’.
The four ministers unanimously agreed that if the JIT failed to record Qatari prince [Hamad bin Jassim]’s statement in the report they reject it.
Govt to reject JIT’s report sans prince’s testimony
In response to the PML-N ministers press conference, Babar said that being the defence witness it the responsibility of the respondents, in this case the ruling family, to produce the Qatari prince before the JIT and the court.
“The burden of not producing its witness before the investigation team or court will have to be borne by the ruling family and no one else,” he said adding that the same principle was applied when the former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani appeared before the Supreme Court in the case of writing letter to Swiss authorities against the president of the country.
The fuming and fulminating ministers of PML-N have made much of the JIT quizzing former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf at his residence in the treason case and that of Mark Seigal in Washington through video conferencing in the Shaheed Benazir murder case, the PPP spokesperson said.
“This comparison however misses a fundamental point; technically Musharraf was quizzed in jail as his residence was declared sub jail. Mark Seigal, on the other hand, recorded his statement through video conferences from the Pakistan Embassy in Washington and not from his home,” Babar said.
He further said that if the Qatari prince wishes to record statement through video conference he has to do so from Pakistan embassy in Doha and it is the responsibility of the respondents to ensure that he does so.