Panamagate case: Sharifs advised to take the bull by the horns

Khawaja Haris counsels Sharif family to appear before accountability courts

ISLAMABAD: Sharif family’s attorney Khawaja Haris has recommended that outside prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family face the trial before accountability courts in connection with the Panamagate case.

Haris met the family in London in order to devise a legal strategy in the wake of the Panamagate verdict and was with the Sharifs for three days before returning to Pakistan on Friday.

Sources told the Express Tribune that Haris urged the Sharif family to cooperate with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with the reference filed against them.

A senior Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) leader also confirmed the course of action recommended by Haris.



He said Haris is looking out for the best interests of the family legally as opposed to politically. He added that Haris could possibly not give advice to the Sharifs on political matters, maybe due to the tangible perceptions of victimisation.

The deposed PM has already summoned senior party leaders to London, so that the final course of action could be evolved.

Meanwhile, the legal system has its own battles to fight, whereby Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar has observed that the Khyber-Pakhtunkwa Local Government Act 2013 was made in a hurry.

“It almost seems like the law was copy-pasted and next to no effort was made while drafting it, it just so local government elections could be held on a war-footing basis,” Nisar said.

The three-judge bench, headed by the chief justice, has for now reserved judgment on various appeals against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to disquality Abbotabad’s district nazim.