PM’s children quell impression of dragging Panama case

ISLAMABAD: By formally requesting the five-member bench to hold daily hearings for early disposal of the petitions on offshore companies, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s children quelled the impression that they want to drag the case for an indefinite time.

Since the start of the proceedings at the top court, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has constantly claimed that the Sharif family is hell-bent on delaying and stretching the proceedings so that the case loses steam and public focus.

A similar application was instantly called for from the PTI as well to express its urgency for adjudication of the petitions at an early date. But it wasn’t submitted.

The premier’s children Hussain, Maryam and Hassan stated in their request filed with the court that the case was of utmost importance and that it has affected the work of some State institutions. An impression is being given that they are seeking adjournments while it was being done by the other side, therefore, day-to-day hearings should be held, the plea emphasized.

Before the petitions landed at the apex court on the offshore companies months after the emergence of the Panama Papers, the opposition particularly the PTI and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) kept claiming that the government was not serious and sincere in investigations into the matter for being guilty. It was also repeatedly stated that the Sharif family wasted seven months in foot-dragging.

Tuesday’s application of the premier’s scions belie this assertion as they have conveyed their desire in black and white to the apex court that they want an early decision on the petitions. 

If the PTI was really in a hurry to get the issue decided by the apex court, it was required to quickly approach the judicial forum, but it did so after the lapse of many months in the wake of surfacing of the Panama disclosures.

Instead of going to the Supreme Court, the PTI preferred to wage a public campaign by holding public protests and even made an abortive attempt to lock down the federal capital. However, after its failure to shut down Islamabad, it realized the efficacy of its public power to force the government into accepting any of its demands. It also knew the uselessness of its protest campaign.

A considerably long time was consumed by a lot of activities to formulate the Terms of Reference (ToRs) for a judicial commission but the whole exercise turned out to be a complete dud as the two sides did not come to terms due to their rigid stands. Several rounds of parleys were held and finally the talks were nailed when the PTI and PPP unilaterally walked out of the dialogue leaving their opposition partners behind with a sullen face.

Now, it is up to the court whether to hold daily hearings to decide the petitions before the onset of winter vacation by the Supreme Court on Dec 18 and prior to the farewell full-court reference in honour of Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali on Dec 15.

Another vital point that emerged in Tuesday’s proceedings was that the burden of proof was now on the Sharif family to establish itself innocent as a judge remarked that the onus has come on the defendants after their admission of the London flats and offshore companies.

The chief justice’s observation is that all options are open and if the panel comes to the conclusion that a commission is needed for a just probe and justice, it will constitute one. From day one, the bench has been hinting about the setting up of the commission that will file its report to the court. It will become clear in a day or so whether the bench will go for the commission or itself hand down a judgment on the petitions.

PTI lawyer Naeem Bokhari spent a lot of time in trying to prove that Maryam was a dependent of her father, the prime minister, which the other side denied as Nawaz Sharif’s attorney Salman Aslam Butt opened his arguments to continue on Wednesday.

He will be required to focus on three key questions: How did the premier’s children establish the offshore companies? Who is dependent on whom? Whether the facts in prime minister's three speeches, one to the National Assembly and two to the nation, are true or not? These queries are mostly based on the arguments that the apex court has so far heard.

After Salman Aslam Butt will wrap up his assertions, Akram Sheikh, who represents Maryam, Hussain and Hassan, will open their defence. Neither on Tuesday nor before did the PTI present its much-talked about evidences before the bench. Its lawyer kept picking holes in the proofs submitted by the Sharif family in support of its case. During its protest campaign and in TV talk shows, the PTI leaders have been heavily depending on the documentary proofs against the Sharif family but none was laid before the panel or relied upon by it in the court. Thus nothing startling was produced before the court, matching its tall claims, which are obviously made to gain political mileage.