Nawaz faces another JIT

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has constituted a Joint Investigation Team to probe former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's role in the illegal allotment of Auqaf land in Pakpattan in 1985.

The order was passed by a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar while hearing the case in Islamabad on Thursday.

The JIT will be headed by NACTA Chief Khalid Dad Luck and will comprise representatives from ISI and IB.

The court directed JIT head to finalize and submit the terms of reference of the team by 27th of this month.

On Nov 04, the chief justice hinted at forming a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the matter, to which the PML-N founder said his experience with the JIT was not very pleasant and requested the CJP to consider investigations from someone else. At this, the courtroom burst into laughter. The chief justice remarked that a leader like Nawaz Sharif who was the prime minister thrice should have been above such controversies. The bench also offered the ex-PM to investigate the issue on his own.

Nawaz Sharif is facing a charge that being the chief minister of Punjab in 1986, he ordered withdrawal of a notification of Dec 17, 1969 and allegedly allotted huge lands of the Auqaf department around Pakpattan to Dewan Ghulam Qutab in violation of the high court order.

During the hearing, Nawaz Sharif said the secretary Auqaf might have used his powers to withdraw the notification. To this, the chief justice said the secretary has no such authority and this should be probed and asked him to suggest the mode of inquiry. Nawaz said it is a 32-year-old case and he can't recall the details. The court gave one-week time to Nawaz Sharif for his reply, asking him which forum should be assigned the task to probe the case.

The court on November 13 had summoned Nawaz Sharif in the case and had questioned under which law permission was granted to construct stores on the Auqaf department’s land. A lawyer representing Nawaz Sharif had argued that the former chief minister did not sign the de-notification summary. The chief justice then said that let them summon Nawaz Sharif, so that he could personally explain his position.