Money laundering: Is plea against Nawaz maintainable, court asks

The petitioner asks the court to place the PM’s name on the exit control list.

LAHORE: A five-member bench of Lahore High Court sought arguments on Friday over the maintainability of a petition seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over money laundering allegations.

The bench, headed by Justice Farrukh Irfan, then adjourned proceedings indefinitely.

The petitioner requested the bench for directions to place the PM’s name on the exit control list, to which Justice Irfan remarked that that would not be possible till the court established the maintainability of the petition.

The petitioner also requested the court to summon the PM in person for cross examination. Justice Irfan asked what was the need for subordinate courts if high courts started cross examining suspects. Petitioner Javed Iqbal Jafri said the PM had smuggled billions of rupees out of the country. Counsel for the federal government requested the court to appoint an impartial lawyer to assist the court.

The court, however, asked the petitioner to argue the maintainability of the petition and adjourned the hearing.

Barrister Javed Iqbal Jafri had filed the petition in 1991. He had alleged that Nawaz Sharif had been involved in laundering black money. He requested the court to investigate the matter and bring back the money. He had also requested the court to disqualify Sharif from contesting any elections.

Earlier on October 21, 2014, a division bench headed by Justice Sayed Mansoor Ali Shah had referred the case to the chief justice to constitute a larger bench to deal with the matter. Last week, the case again was once again fixed before the single bench of Justice Ayesha A Malik who referred the case back to the registrar’s office for fixing it before a larger bench.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2015.