ISLAMABAD - Although Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan is determined to file a constitutional petition before the Supreme Court against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over the Panama leaks, senior leadership of the party is still divided over this decision.

A faction of PTI leaders considers seeking the Supreme Court’s intervention in this purely political matter could result in embarrassment on political front while others believe the move will not only earn political mileage for the party but also help exert more pressure on the ruling PML-N for the probe into the allegations against the prime minister and his family as revealed by Panama Papers, The Nation has learnt.

Another difference of opinion also exists within the senior leadership over filing the constitutional petition before the apex court at a time when similar applications are pending with the National Assembly speaker and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) separately.

The PTI chairman last week announced to go to the Supreme Court against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over the charges of money laundering and his offshore wealth as revealed by Panama Papers in the face of the government’s delaying tactics to form a judicial commission to probe these revelations. “We have proofs of money laundering against Nawaz Sharif and have prepared a petition against him to file before the apex court,” the PTI chairman had told a press conference soon after chairing a core committee meeting of the party.

However, two opinions from the senior party leadership came soon after this announcement of Khan. PTI was scheduled to file before the Supreme Court a constitutional petition under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution of Pakistan on last Monday, but this was postponed for this reason. Khan had to call another core committee meeting that was held on last Tuesday to decide the matter. After hearing both the sides at the meeting, Khan decided PTI would file the petition.

Those who are opposing filing the petition consider seeking the Supreme Court’s intervention the move would be counter-productive as the apex court often avoids indulging in political matters. They argue the era of judicial activism has gone with the retirement of former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Well-placed sources within PTI said its legal wizard Hamid Khan had advised the party not to move the petition as it was a political issue more of than a legal one. He has suggested that PTI had already been pursuing the matter through a couple of other platforms and these available legal options should be utilised first ahead of going to the Supreme Court.

Hamid Khan refused to divulge any information on this matter. “We hold discussions within the party on such issues; arguments from all sides are heard and the same was done in this issue, but it will not be appropriate for me to share the details of the party meetings with the media,” Hamid said, adding the final decision of the party was that the petition would be filed.

Responding to a question, he said the future was to decide whether this move of the party would be successful or not.

Iftikhar Durrani, the head of PTI’s Central Media Department, admitted there were two views within the party over the timing of filing the petition. “One view is that this would be too early to go to the apex court when ECP and the National Assembly speaker were hearing the same matter,” he said and added: “Others opine that the party should go to the SC with full force without wasting time. Some view that the onus of proof would be on the party to prove charges in the SC, but we have substantial evidence. We are weighing both options,” he said and viewed it would not be bad if first these two platforms were utilised before going to the SC. “Then we can say that we have exhausted all available options,” he said, adding one thing was confirmed that the petition would be filed sooner or later.

The major opposition party, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), has already decided that it would not approach the apex court over the issue of Panama Papers. The senior PPP leader and Opposition Leader in the Senate, Aitzaz Ahsan, also advised the PTI not to seek the court’s intervention in the issue as it would not be helpful for it in the face of its ongoing anti-government movement over the Panama Gate.

PTI, an opposition party, had decided to start an anti-government movement, “Accountability Movement” besides filing petitions on difference platforms against the PM after the talks between the government and the joint opposition failed over the formation of terms of reference (ToRs) for a proposed judicial commission to probe the Panama leaks.