The verdict of the Panama Papers case is strategic and the only relief that the PM has got is a period of sixty days given by Supreme Court for an investigation by a Joint Investigation Team comprised of intelligence officials, State Bank representatives, FIA and other agencies.

The PTI and PPP and other opposition parties, without wasting any time, gave statements against the setting up of the JIT on the plea that it would not be able to conduct an independent inquiry being comprised of government officials. However, it appears that the opposition parties have not taken time to carefully read the detailed judgment and therefore have missed the significance of the historic verdict, which would have very long lasting influence on the political landscape of Pakistan for many years to come.

The petition was put in front of an eminent bench comprising of five judges who spent six months hearing both sides in great detail. All along the hearings the judges gave interesting remarks and comments on the arguments and evidences presented by both sides which was interpreted, as desired by both sides as favouring their stance but remained more or less a matter of perception. However, one thing was crystal clear all along , that there was nothing that went amiss from the observation and comprehension of the esteemed bench. 

The judges did not miss anything on either side; the logic, the evidence or lack of it, the body languages of the petitioners, the passion and excitement, the methods adopted by both sides to impress the public regarding their stance, the accusations and the rebuttals, the press conferences and the statements, the pleas inside and the rhetoric outside the court room, the inconclusive nature of the evidence provide by the petitioners and the inaccurate evidence provided by the defendants, and yet they carried on patiently.

The judges gave concerted attention to the inconsistencies and contradictions in the recorded statements of the Prime Minster of Pakistan and his children, given at various points in time, about the ways and means through which they acquired some the most expensive flats in the world. They listened to the stories seemingly out of the famous Alf Laila wa Laila,  about Arab princes coming to the rescue of the Prime Minister and his family, in need of an alibi. They listened to the family of the Prime Minister contradicting one another as to the ownership of their properties and bank accounts.

The judges carefully noted the incredible fact that seemingly no one in the entire Sharif family, including the Prime Minister, knew how the wonderful super expensive flats in Mayfair, London came to be under their possession, or when exactly. And no one in the whole family knew who they actually belonged to before 2007, or if the properties were on rent or lease, borrowed or bought. The judges observed how the Sharif family and their lawyers failed to give any answer as to who was the rightful owner of the London flats that the Sharif family used for more than two decades as their residence.

The judges also noted that the petitioners were not also able to dig out the counter facts from London as to who was the rightful owner of the London flats and they could not produce any conclusive evidence as to the properties being purchased with ill begotten money either.

The judges were presented with loads of evidence; some they declared as frivolous, some they administered and for months on end they took notes and they took notes and then some more during the famous hearing.

Can anyone for a moment believe that these learned men did not know the truth at the end of the hearing? Can anyone believe that they missed anything? Or that they have any doubts about the case?

There is, and can be, no doubt in the minds of the five learned judges of the honourable bench as is evident from the five hundred and ninety page verdict.

Then why did they not give a unanimous decision of disqualification of the Prime Minister? The reason is very simple and if the petitioners were able to see the logic behind the decision they would be praising the judges instead of showing displeasure over the decision.

The judges, although they understand and know everything have to make the decision on evidence, and the bench was not a trial court, so they did not have conclusive evidence to disqualify the Prime Minister. Until and unless they have the evidence they cannot disqualify the PM saying that he has ‘economized the truth’ and that his statements seem fabricated.

The JIT was the only way they could get the requisite set of evidences that they need to get anyone disqualified, convicted or pardoned. The JIT would have to probe and ask for the evidence from the Prime Minister and his family.

The opposition parties seem distraught on the fact that the JIT would not be able to dig the truth from the defendants as it would comprise of government officials, but they have overlooked the fact that actually there is no room to wiggle after the six months long hearing where each and every statement has been recorded about the money trail and the sources of income, and there is no way possible to fabricate new facts for the JIT even if it completely ‘cooperates’ with the defendants.

There can be nothing new presented to the JIT, which has not already been said in front of the judges and any dissension from it would only cause more trouble. Even after a lukewarm effort of JIT the lame proof will lie limply in the lap of the JIT to be dished out to SC.

The historic verdict starts with the quote of Honore de Balzac in the famous novel, The Godfather by Mario Puzo “Behind every great fortune there is crime”. The judgment from the first sentence has implied the defendants as criminals and refereed their story to that of the great Italian Mafia in the novel.

None of the five senior judges of SC declared him to be honest or trustworthy; all of them have considered the proofs provided by the respondents as 'mere rhetoric and hollow’.

The truth is that the celebrations and the declarations of the innocence of the Prime Minister and his family are nothing but a political gimmick. As ninety-nine percent of the population of Pakistan would not be reading or understanding the text of the verdict, it is actually very easy to lead them to believe that somehow the Sharifs have been vindicated in the case. The fact of the matter is that the defendants have been now cornered completely and there is nothing that they can do to wiggle out of this inquiry. They result of the inquiry has little prospects in clearing their name and providing the true facts about their properties.

The opposition parties should just sit tight and let the JIT do this extremely difficult task of probing PM Nawaz Sharif and his children and let them be assured that there is no way possible that the most obedient JIT can help them get out of the case, as their earlier statements in the court would prove to be the quicksand that is going to suck them in for good.