Political victimisation?
With the PPP appearing in the dock, the PTI-run Centre attempted to fish in the troubled waters of Sindh
The January 7 proceedings of the Supreme Court in the fake bank accounts case must have come as more of a surprise than relief for the PPP.
The top court ordered the names of party chairman Bilawal Bhutto and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah struck off the no-fly list. The court also ordered excluding both from a report of the joint investigation team (JIT) which claims that billions of rupees were laundered out of the country through dozens of fake bank accounts, under a nexus of politicians, bankers and businessmen.
Bilawal and Shah, however, can still be investigated. The top court forwarded the case to NAB, with orders to wrap up investigation within two months, but rejected the JIT’s recommendation for filing no less than 16 references against those named in its report, including bigwigs such as PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and top bankers and businessmen.
The discovery of the fake bank accounts caused quite a stir in the politics of Sindh. December 24 of the last year was awaited eagerly. That was the day when the JIT had to present its report on the fake accounts case in the Supreme Court, and there were apprehensions of Zardari being arrested and sent behind bars because of his ‘connection’ with the fake bank accounts allegedly used for money laundering.
With the PPP appearing in the dock, the PTI-run Centre attempted to fish in the troubled waters of Sindh. The PTI’s Sindh chapter started stepping up contacts with the loosely-bonded provincial legislators of the PPP in a bid to create a forward bloc within the party and win their support for an in-house change. The PPP, in turn, threatened a matching response to the PTI at the Centre. However, the dust settled after the top court made it clear that it would not allow any undemocratic change in Sindh.
The court’s overall observations and directives in the case must be enough for the PPP to bury its allegations of political victimisation in the name of accountability.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2019.
The top court ordered the names of party chairman Bilawal Bhutto and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah struck off the no-fly list. The court also ordered excluding both from a report of the joint investigation team (JIT) which claims that billions of rupees were laundered out of the country through dozens of fake bank accounts, under a nexus of politicians, bankers and businessmen.
Bilawal and Shah, however, can still be investigated. The top court forwarded the case to NAB, with orders to wrap up investigation within two months, but rejected the JIT’s recommendation for filing no less than 16 references against those named in its report, including bigwigs such as PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and top bankers and businessmen.
The discovery of the fake bank accounts caused quite a stir in the politics of Sindh. December 24 of the last year was awaited eagerly. That was the day when the JIT had to present its report on the fake accounts case in the Supreme Court, and there were apprehensions of Zardari being arrested and sent behind bars because of his ‘connection’ with the fake bank accounts allegedly used for money laundering.
With the PPP appearing in the dock, the PTI-run Centre attempted to fish in the troubled waters of Sindh. The PTI’s Sindh chapter started stepping up contacts with the loosely-bonded provincial legislators of the PPP in a bid to create a forward bloc within the party and win their support for an in-house change. The PPP, in turn, threatened a matching response to the PTI at the Centre. However, the dust settled after the top court made it clear that it would not allow any undemocratic change in Sindh.
The court’s overall observations and directives in the case must be enough for the PPP to bury its allegations of political victimisation in the name of accountability.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2019.