Commission to have wide scope of inquiry

ISLAMABAD: The sky is the limit for the inquiry commission to probe the affairs of every offshore company operating in other countries, firms, partnerships and trusts being owned either by Pakistani citizens or overseas Pakistanis across the world. However, the Terms of Reference (TOR) have left open the period during which any wrongdoings were committed by a large number of entities of all sorts or individuals, meaning that conducted into such dealings from the creation of Pakistan. The commission may also set a cut-off date to investigate from there onwards.

The scope of SC commission of inquiry constituted in wake of the Panama Papers is so wide that it demands investigation into every business being done by Pakistanis in other countries. The government’s representatives say that the reason of keeping wide scope of inquiry commission is to settle the issue of offshore companies and money sent abroad once for all.

If the commission investigates as per its ToRs, it will be the biggest service to the nation as names will come forth of those who laundered the money, those who got loans written off, those who received kickbacks and sent money abroad; public servants and politicians who received commissions and shifted the black money overseas; those public office holders who looted the national kitty and laundered the cash to other countries and those who claim to be innocents but actually have plundered the national wealth. The tales of loot and plunder by public office holders and accumulation of wealth abroad have been talk of the town since the creation of Pakistan but now it is the time that 190 million Pakistanis actually know who actually did this.

The TORs read: “Involvement of Pakistani citizens, persons of Pakistan origin and legal entities in offshore companies in Panama or in any other country”. The term “legal entities” in the ToRs means every company operated/owned by Pakistanis; every firm, partnership or trust being run in any form anywhere in the world. The commission will not be bound to information of Panama Papers only and will settle the issue of offshore companies and business of Pakistanis abroad.

Not only this, the ToRs also empower the commission to dig out “involvement of former and present holders of public office in:-(i) writing off their own bank loans or those of their immediate family members through political influence; and,(ii) transfer of funds form Pakistan which have originated from corruption, commissions or kickbacks”.

The issue of loan write-offs has been taken up many a time in the past and even the SC under former CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry also took up the issue upon MQM’s chief Altaf Hussain’s letter and the issue was discussed at length of loan write-off stories from 1971 onwards. Importantly the case of loan write-offs is much easy for the commission to settle than probing offshore companies or businesses abroad. All the banks and the State Bank of Pakistan already possess the data of all loan write-offs and it is readily available for further action.

Regarding transfer of funds originated from corruption, commissions or kickbacks, it is up to the inquiry commission to decide from where it would like to investigate the issue. Whether it would start from the creation of Pakistan or from 1971 or from any other date feasible to the inquiry commission?

Special Assistant to Prime Minister Barrister Zafarullah Khan while talking to The News also agreed that the inquiry commission had no limits and it would investigate all offshore companies either in Panama or anywhere in the world and the companies of Pakistanis or persons of Pakistan origin or any firm or partnership or trust that operates outside Pakistan or has sent money abroad. He mentioned that the only reason of giving such wide scope ambit to the commission was to settle the issue once for all. He said that it was said that the politicians were corrupt and loan defaulters therefore the ToRs had been made to hold every corrupt accountable including those who wrote-off loans or received kick-backs and commissions.

Under the given ToRs, many key leaders will have to present themselves before the commission including the Sharif family; ex-president Asif Ali Zardari, dictator Pervez Musharraf, former interior minister Rehman Malik, the Saifullah family, PTI’s Aleem Khan, Jehangir Tareen and others and explain how they sent money abroad for their businesses and properties purchased thereof.