ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has decided to stop pursuing important cases in the Supreme Court till the conclusion of Panama Papers case investigation by a joint investigation team (JIT) formed by the Supreme Court.

“We have decided to stop following other important petitions, including the one related to the Asghar Khan case, a reference filed against the National Accountability Bureau chairman with the Supreme Judicial Council and a petition that the government is making the judiciary and the JIT controversial,” PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry told Dawn on Sunday.

He said the PTI believed that the JIT would complete its investigation by July 10, and till that time the party did not want to concentrate on any other judicial matter.

The spokesman alleged that under a “planned move”, the ruling PML-N had launched a campaign to malign the judiciary and the JIT in an effort to make them controversial.

PML-N has launched a campaign to malign JIT and judiciary, says Fawad

The JIT constituted by the SC has been probing the sons of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif — Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz — on charges of money-laundering and tax evasion in the light of the Panama Papers leaks.

The PTI has prepared a petition against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif seeking investigations into the allegations regarding receiving money from the founder of Al Qaeda organisation Osama bin Laden for the election campaign of the PML-N during 1990s. But the petition has not been filed so far.

Similarly, the party had also announced filing of a petition seeking implementation of the SC’s earlier verdict in the famous Asghar Khan case.

In its verdict, the court had called for an investigation by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on charges that politicians, including Nawaz Sharif, had received money from the army generals in the 1990s in order to defeat the Pakistan Peoples Party headed by Benazir Bhutto at that time.

Fawad Chaudhry said these two petitions had been drafted despite the fact that the FIA and other institutions were not cooperating with them and they were facing some difficulties in drafting the petitions.

The PTI, on April 24, filed a reference with the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) for the removal of NAB chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry from his post for refusing to reopen alleged money-laundering cases against Prime Minister Sharif.

In the petition the PTI stressed that the NAB chairman’s performance had already been questioned over the course of the Panama Papers case hearings.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2017

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.