SC dismisses Hussain Nawaz's reservations regarding JIT members
A three-member special bench of the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the reservations raised by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s son, Hussain Nawaz, regarding two members of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to probe the Panama Papers case as per the apex court’s instructions.
In an application filed to the SC, Hussain had raised objections against Bilal Rasool of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and Amer Aziz of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
He had expressed apprehensions that the presence of these officers may affect the fairness and impartiality of the JIT and its findings.
In his application, Hussain alleged that Rasool is a nephew of Mian Mohammad Azhar, whose family are ardent Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) supporters.
Hussain also objected to the inclusion of Aziz, who was also part of a National Accountability Bureau investigation which was carried out into the Hudabiya Paper Mills scam under former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf’s regime.
During Monday's hearing, Hussain's newly-engaged counsel, Khawaja Haris, alleged before the bench that the behaviour of the two members of the JIT had also been "abusive".
However, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, who headed the three-judge bench, dismissed the accusation and ordered the JIT to continue with its proceedings and operate within its jurisdiction.
Another judge observed that the two members of the JIT who had been '"targeted" by Hussain in his application were experts in white-collar crime.
"We will not change any members of the JIT, nor will we prevent someone from doing their work," he remarked, drawing attention to the fact that a special bench of the Supreme Court had appointed the members of the JIT.
"Whether it is the prime minister or an ordinary citizen, nobody is above the law," the judge added.
During proceedings at the apex court, the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) Additional Director General Wajid Zia, who heads the JIT, told the bench that Qatari royal Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani had not yet appeared before the JIT.
Two letters signed by the Qatari royal had been presented before the SC by representatives of the prime minister's children's during the Supreme Court's hearing of the Panamagate case.
Justice Afzal remarked on Monday that if the Qatari royal did not appear before the JIT, his letter would be thrown out.
The court was also told that three people summoned by the JIT had failed to appear for a questioning. In response, the court ordered National Bank of Pakistan chief Saeed Ahmed, one of the absentees, to appear before the JIT on Tuesday or non-bailable arrest warrants would be issued against him.
Hussain Nawaz to appear before JIT once again on Tuesday
The JIT has issued another summons, dated May 28 (Sunday), directing Hussain Nawaz to appear before the team again on Tuesday along with all relevant records, documents and material for the recording of his statement and an examination by the JIT.
The notice mentions that Hussain had appeared before the JIT on Sunday, May 28 and refused to answer any question put forth by the JIT on the pretext that the JIT's status was 'sub judice' as Hussain had filed a petition before the apex court regarding two of its constituents.
The notice also says that Hussain's failure to comply will entail "personal consequences".
On Sunday, the JIT had grilled Hussain Nawaz for about two-and-a-half hours at the Federal Judicial Academy (FJA).
Sources said the investigation team questioned Hussain Nawaz with regards to his ownership of the London flats.
They said the JIT also asked him why he kept changing his stance over the source of income for those properties in interviews telecast by different television channels, including the BBC in 1999, where he said he was a student and could not own any property, and was rather living in rented premises.
Comments (75) Closed
Hussain nawaz should follow the law and should have trust in Apex Court.
Justice for all!
Right decision. You cannot choose the people who should investigate you.
If he has nothing to hide then why worry? Just tell the truth and provide the money trail. You can't have JIT to your liking.
Much a do for nothing.
great victory of law and poor people of this country who have no basic needs of life due to corrupt ruler.
The golden chance for Pakistan to get rid of corruption the biggest evil facing our society and it must cover all those who are involved and must not restrict to PM and family.We can live with pride and progress after burying this evil of corruption found everywhere in Pakistan.
All credit goes to IK to bring these people to court. It is an excellent achievement.
There could be some members who might be supporters of PMLN, so what, anyone who is assigned a duty under an oath, he has to set aside these affiliations, But this is what only These kind of people know that what is the advantage of their own people and what are the disadvantages of otherwise. He is right, they are much familiar with the working of JITs,Commissions and committees and possibly it is due to that he is certainly fearful that NO favours will come. May God grant,wisdom,courage and honesty to make a fair and legal decision at any cost.
"He had alleged that Rasool is a nephew of Mian Mohammad Azhar, whose family are ardent Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) supporters" If he had a problem with the guys integrity that is another matter, but we all know that he is just trying to waste time, good job SC saw straight through him..
Great decision....
No person is above the law whether it the PM or the ordinary man.
Miah Azher was part of PMLN is the past and therefore anybody related to him should not have bearing on the suitability as a JIT member. Shareefs just want to create doubts and want to delay the process. God is great and all these so called big people in the world will have to present themselves before his justice either in this world or afterwards.
May be just a ploy to say; see, even those JIT members we opposed; found us not guilty.
Just don't know who to believe. At the end for the sake of The Nation, we need a just decision.
Gone are the days when all negative activities remained hidden and unaccounted for. Common Pakistanis have suffered a deep wound inflicted by corruption that is the real cause for for the miseries facing Pakistanis.The dawn of a brighter & corruption free Pakistan can easily be seen nearing Pakistan at a fast pace, GOD Willing.
Good going court! Please help make Pakistan the shining beacon of light that was envisioned. We have suffered for far too long under corruption and bad leadership!
Does he not know that if you are being investigated, YOU can not decide who should investigate you. This is how PMLN would like to govern. Should the Supreme Court of Pakistan asked the accused to provide names of people who should invstigate them?.
i am very optimistic about coming days when justice prevails in our society. Slaute to Supreme Court.
Let's see what JIT the honorable judges will form in the case of Imran Khan. That's a similar case
More iron hand grip in store.
Best news in a long time.
"Khawaja Haris argued before the bench that the behaviour of two members of the JIT been "abusive". Asking about truth is abuse to this royal (NS) family. They are not use to face facts.
Great decision; these people should not be allowed to play with the nation anymore.
:) I am happy at the SC decision, hopefully justice will be served in the Panama case and Pakistan can break free from the reign of the Shariffs empire.
delayed in justice .. denied the justice
"Whether it is the prime minister or an ordinary citizen, nobody is above the law," the judge added.
wish this becomes a norm here...
Right decision of the Supreme Court. In no country the accuser get the right to choose the team for investigations
Right decision. Actually rulers have never faced such situation since 1947. Thus, looks odd to most of us. But, it the the beginning. Let us hope.
Everyone should respect the decision of SC bench.
A move to show that SC was not influenced
Feudal type mentality! Hussain Nawaz had the audacity to demand removal of two of the members of the JIT! How dare he even think that?!!!! No one is above the law.
An objection raised after weeks of formation of JIT was bound to be thrown out.
Welcome to Pakistan millionaire boy. Show the JIT your sources of income. Plain text with font 12, Arial and black and white will be sufficient!
our judiciary should set such an example to bring the culprits to book. The sharifs should not worry if they have done nothing wrong why should they afraid?
It seems SC is serious in finishing the case as soon as possible.
decision not to change member of JIT is according to law and good for coming investigation it just time for PM and his family to tel the nation the truth . now people will start trusting that law applies to big or small equally
Good work by SC
There will be no justice in this case. The end result will be a political one.
@Ahmed Does not matter if IK is disqualified. He is not the PM.
Why don't you people understand.
You cannot have corrupt person as a PM.
IT IS TOTALLY WRONG, PERIOD.
The writing is on the wall. Looks like the PMs days are numbered.
Hats off to the judge who refused to honour Hussain Nawaz petition against the two JIT team
@Ahmed may b a similar case in eyes of a literate but for the common Pakistani these cases are 180 degrees apart...01 involves taking money out of country and another involves bringing money inside the country...also 01 accuse is a public office holder for more than 30 years and the other one had never been related to any public office.
The whole nation know that whole of the Sharif family is lying
I wish an ordinady Pakistani could see the justice being done in this case, if so , we are to be sure of that bright , prosperous future, ever dreamt by our predecessors, forefathers who left this world with dreams of a corruption free and justice- full Pakistan
@Ahmed
There are some fundamental differences between Imran Khan and Sharif family cases. But I completely agree that a JIT must be formed in Imran's case, if required.
Imran made his money playing cricket, bought A flat in London, and after selling that flat brought the money to Pakistan. He never held public office during any if this.
In comparison, Sharif family made the money in Pakistan/Jeddah/Dubai/Qatar (even SC judges were confused about where and how the money was actually made) and bought MULTIPLE flats in London. The Sharif brothers were holding public office whilst much of this was happening.
@Syba
My intellect agrees with you, i.e. the only decision will be a political one, but my heart yearns for something better. Regardless of the decision, at least this whole saga is a step in the right direction. It will take years as they say Rome was not built in a day.
Stop mourning for God sake. If you are innocent no need to worry about outcomes.
Very interesting.
Good decision made by SC, every one in Pakistan should held accountable against law of the land.
Excellent and an expected one....Salute to SC....Party is on...
Good decision by SC.....
Looks like that the shareefs are no more sharerfs and due to their huge corruption and stealing of Pakistanis wealth they are going to be in big trouble
Politicians have shot their own feet. Instead of resolving the matter within the parliament amicably , they rushed to SC to abase each other, thereby not only they have damaged their own image, but also gave much more space to judiciary and the establishment. It is highly likely that both NS and IK are shortly going to be disqualify., which certainly going to prove set back to two main stream parties of the country.It will be a great tragedy,
Hats off to SUPREME COURT. We salute these five judges for standing upright in the face of wrongdoing. The nation is looking up to you please don't make us loose faith in this beautiful country of our....
Excellent Decision by the bench. They should correctly ignore such moves by the accused and his family
Half of Mushrraf's Cabinet is part of N-league Cabinet. What about that?
@TKHAN great thought
Delaying tectecs of royal family.
No one is above the law; finally becoming a reality.
Good decision by the three-member special bench of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan dismissing the reservations raised by the son of the current Prime Minister pertaining to the two members of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT).
Let's wait and see what JIT will do in the days to come?
Love it.
bravo
@Syba : Please Syba, give us a break. Cut this negativity out, Please Sir!
It is about time that ALL politicians especially Noon League learn to respect the law of the land in which they live in. If they do not comply with the rules then they should leave Pakistan and go to their luxury heavens in Emirates or Europe. They are not wanted here.
Thank God Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan is laying down the Law for those who think they are above it or it is beneath them. Hussain Nawaz should know that his attempt to be obstructive and make frivolous complaints will not sway the court's agenda.
Hussain Nawaz's and PML-N party attitude always been pick and chose their own liking people in any JIT, the good news is this time JIT is under SC supervision not under PML-N government. After Panama Leak JIT report SC should re-visit all the previous JIT decisions and they will find out the truth about Model Town JIT and others, that how they planted their own people in JIT investigations to get the result in their favor.
right decision at right tme
@Muhammad zafar iqbal that is the problem if he is forced to follow the law and it is implied impartially he will end up in a lot of trouble that's why he is trying every trick in the book to delay postpone or influence the committee
They are not just use too of this.
I sincerely hope that the JUSTICE is served no matter who is who!
If the constitution continues, though slowly yet steadily, to gather respect by the respective State institutions, one should remain hopeful of light at the end of the tunnel.
Don't know when Zardariz will come into this net
@Vikas rehman Question regarding IK is not about his cricket earned money but did he paid due taxes when he purchased 300 kinals land? Also, tell me a single cricketer who made billions in 80s? IK can not just say that I am sorry I do not have 13 years old bank transactions but Shareef family should produce 40 years old transaction when NS was studinying in college with IK.
For many years, the environment within Pakistan has been such that not a single segment of the society remained uncorrupted either morally or financially. Whoever got any opportunity or chance , availed full benefit out of the system without caring to know whether morally it is right or not.Top leadership of all the three major parties have been facing corruption charges, while MQM has been facing some other kind of charges. So who is left now , Jamate Islami?Who has no roots in the public.
The problem is not unsolvable. Right solution can be found by accepting some Islamic principles. The foremost among them is 'Forgive and Forget'. The second one is following the 'Middle path' ( by staying away from either extreme left or extreme right path). Some common friends of both IK and NS have to take initiative and convince both of them to get the law of amnesty passed for all within the parliament. The two together have super majority within the parliament. This amnesty should include all -- businessmen,lawyers,doctors ,engineers and all other professionals including judiciary and establishment. Now onward, let us avow/commit and say 'No' to corruption of any kind. The nascent democracy can flourish only with amity and cooperation Otherwise real democracy will always remain elusive.
There is a question mark on the credibility of JIT members. They are against Prime Minister and his family.