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ISLAMABAD: The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted in compliance with the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Panama Papers case would concentrate more on uncovering new facts than on reinvestigating the available record, sources said.
The sources, however, said it was unlikely for the JIT to complete the task in the allotted period of two months, and rather it would need “several months” to do the job.
They said the JIT would try to get hold of verified documents of the London apartments owned by the family of the prime minister as well as certified details of the offshore companies used to buy them.
The team would try to get these documents through diplomatic channels and for the purpose would send letters to relevant ministries and departments.
The JIT would request the country’s missions abroad to get the requisite documents attested by foreign ministries of the countries concerned and then send them over to it.
The team of investigators also decided that the two letters of Qatari prince Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani about the London properties would be verified, the sources said.
However, the entire exercise was unlikely to be completed within the stipulated period of two months, the sources said.
“If the JIT decides to investigate all the allegations levelled in connection with the properties, then it will need several months to complete the probe,” said a senior officer who has led many high-profile investigations.
In his opinion if the JIT decided to find facts about all the questions raised by the apex court it would need at least three months to complete the task.
According to him, the difference between finding the appropriate facts and investigating something was that the latter was considered more comprehensive as it was carried out under the criminal procedure code (CrPC) and could be used in the trial court as valid evidence.
However, in its order of May 5 the Supreme Court empowered the JIT to invoke provisions of the CrPC 1898, National Accountability Ordinance 1999 and Federal Investigation Agency Act 1975 to summon the prime minister, his sons, ministers or any other person required.
The sources said that in order to verify the information contained in the available record, the JIT might call some witnesses involved in the Hudabiya mills case.
The team might also summon the magistrate who recorded the confessional statement of Ishaq Dar to verify it. Mr Dar was an accused in the corruption reference pertaining to the Hudabiya Paper Mills Limited (HPML) that was instituted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) soon after the then army chief General Pervez Musharraf had toppled the government of Nawaz Sharif.
Later, Mr Dar became an approver and submitted an application to the NAB chairman on April 20, 2000 and appealed for a pardon in the case.
In his statement Mr Dar said: “...The detailed statement of facts, circumstances and events etc leading to accumulation of Rs642 million in the accounts of HPML is enclosed herewith for your kind perusal and consideration.”
However, after re-emergence of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on the national scene, Mr Dar backtracked from his statement.
Meanwhile, the JIT has sought details of income tax returns of Prime Minister Sharif from the Federal Board of Revenue, the sources said.
The JIT also examined the details of assets of Mr Sharif and his son-in-law Captain Mohammad Safdar on Friday and after taking certain decisions for its next meetings, it adjourned further proceedings till Monday.
Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2017
