Dhaka, 20 April, Abnews: Pakistan braced on Thursday as Supreme Court began reading out a 540-page verdict in the Panamagate case.
The Supreme Court on Thursday gave a split judgement on the highly anticipated Panama Papers case, issuing an order for the formation of Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the Sharif family's involvement in corruption as stated in the Panama leaks, Dawn reports.
A five-judge bench, comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, had examined arguments presented by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), the Watan Party and the All Pakistan Muslim League, who framed the case out of court as a campaign against corruption.
Reading the verdict, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa asks how the assets were transferred from Jeddah.
The apex court gives two months to JIT to complete Panamagate probe.
“It needs to be investigated how the money was transferred to Qatar,” the verdict reads.
The premier’s sons Hasan and Hussain Nawaz will have to appear before the JIT, says SC.
Justice Asif Saeed Khosa began announcing the final verdict in the case against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family at Courtroom 1 at the apex court.
The final verdict is split 3-2 among the bench, DawnNews reported, with two dissenting notes in the judgement by Justice Khosa and Justice Gulzar. The two judges ruled against PM Nawaz Sharif, whereas the other three were in favour of forming a JIT.
Justice Ejaz authored the 540-page verdict, according to TV reports.
Justice Khosa asserted that the Federal Investigation Agency and National Accountability Bureau were unsuccessful in playing their role effectively.
The JIT is to include officials NAB, FIA, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence, the bench said, and will be led by a director-general level FIA officer.
ABN/Latif/Jashim/ML