ISLAMABAD - A five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court asked the Attorney General to assist the court and stop being party to the case, as it resumed hearing the Panama leaks case on Wednesday.
Justice Asif Saeed Khosa during the hearing also remarked that NAB “died in front of us yesterday (Tuesday)”. He questioned if NAB chairman could even issue a traffic violation ticket to anyone after his yesterday’s statement.
He was referring to the situation when the chairmen of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) were admonished by the judges for not investigating the Panmagate scandal on the level of their institutions.
Moreover, the two officers also did not show any intention to vigorously pursue the case despite insistence of the apex court.
During yesterday’s proceedings, Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf said that he had taken a look at the records and concluded that the Sharif family took loan on foreign currency accounts.
To this Justice Azmat Saeed remarked that the court had been told that investments had been made with the Qatar Prince, and no foreign currency account had been mentioned.
The Attorney General continued that the Hudaibiya Paper Mill case should be kept separate from the Panama Paper case. On NAB’s role in Hudaibiya case, he said, anyone could have filed an appeal against the Lahore High Court’s decision.
Justice Azmat said that if the Hudaibiya case was not based on facts, why he [AG] was trying to avoid it. He added that the court has to intervene if other institutions are not working properly.
On the disqualification of the prime minister, the court remarked that it is a fundamental right of the people to know whether their prime minister is eligible or not.
The Attorney General said that the law states that the disqualification reference is first sent to the National Assembly speaker, and if he does not respond only then the court can intervene.
The AG also said that the petitioner [PTI] produced disputed material in the court and no conclusive judgment can be given in Panamagate case until the allegations levelled by the petitioners are not probed and verified.
The bench said it may consider appointing an independent investigator to ensure transparent and fair probe of the matter in accordance with the law. Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said the bench is looking into the case in every conceivable manner.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf counsel Naeem Bukhari said that the Supreme Court had sent former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani home even though $65 million were never returned to the public exchequer.
To this Attorney General retorted that Article 63 of the constitution did not allow issuing a declaration.
All the parties in the case and the NAB, FBR and the attorney general have completed their submissions before the bench. In the rebuttal process, Naeem Bukhari, the counsel of the PTI is submitting his arguments. The court directing all the relevant counsels to complete their rebuttal by Thursday adjourned the hearing.
NAB died in front of us the other day: SC