ISLAMABAD: The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) established on the instructions of the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case is planning to develop questionnaires for the prime minister and his sons in order to get answers to the questions posed by the apex court.

Sources privy to the JIT said that the six-member team was also in the process of hiring a foreign firm for forensic audit of the documents related to the sale/purchase of the Gulf Steel Mills, London flats and offshore companies which materialised the sale deeds of properties owned by the Sharif family.

The JIT might also send a questionnaire to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the sources said.

As per the terms of reference of the JIT, it would probe: how did Gulf Steel Mills come into being; what led to its sale; what happened to its liabilitie; how did they reach Jeddah, Qatar and the UK; whether Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz in view of their tender ages had the means in the early nineties to possess and purchase the flats; whether sudden appearance of the letters of Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani is a myth or a reality; who, in fact, is the real and beneficial owner of M/s Nielsen Enterprises Limited and Nescoll Limited; how did Hill Metal Establishment come into existence; where did the money for Flagship Investment Limited and other companies set up/taken over by the son of the PM and where did the working capital for such companies come from and where do the huge sums running into millions gifted by respondent Hussain Nawaz to Nawaz Sharif drop in from?

The apex court has already empowered the JIT to summon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his sons as and when required.

The JIT has decided to send a detailed questionnaire to the Al-Thani family of Qatar regarding the offshore properties of the Sharif family in London through diplomatic channels.

The sources, however, said that all the correspondence would be done through the attorney general’s office as well as the ministry of foreign affairs.

The sources said that the JIT was likely to dispatch questionnaires to the prime minister, his sons Hassan and Hussain Nawaz and Ishaq Dar in the coming days.

In case the JIT found these replies unsatisfactory, the investigation team under the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898, the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, and the Federal Investigation Act, 1975, could summon and procure attendance of any person, including the prime minister and his sons, to probe the matter, the sources added.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2017