Panama case may conclude in a week or two

ISLAMABAD: The proceedings on the petitions against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his children on account of offshore companies and London apartments in the Supreme Court may conclude during the current week.

The premier’s lawyer, Makhdoom Ali Khan, may not take much more time to wrap up his arguments. The attorneys of Maryam, Hussain, Hassan and Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar including Shahid Hamid and Salman Akram Raja will come on the rostrum immediately after him. Then, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) counsel Naeem Bokhari will give his rejoinder to their points.

In case the day-to-day hearings could not be completed during the current week, they will spill over into another couple of days of the next week.

The judges have told the lawyers of all sides that they will give them as much time as they want and no restrictions would be imposed on them in projecting their stands. PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s legal brain Bokhari left the rostrum on his own will after taking several days to complete his assertions.

Much of the necessary work related to these petitions has already been done. Documentary proofs have been laid before the bench by both sides. However, the defendants may come out with some more documents in support of their cause when their other lawyers would speak.

The advocates of the prime minister and his children will mainly focus on the points raised by Bokhari. The Makhdoom has responded to some of them on behalf of the prime minister during his continuing arguments.

It is still unclear that whether the five-member bench led by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa will hand down a judgment or constitute a one-man judicial commission comprising a serving Supreme Court judge to further look into the matter and deliver its report to the panel to take a decision.

It is obvious that not only the prime minister, his family, his government and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) but also the PTI, all other political parties and people at large are anxiously waiting for the ruling, which will have a tremendous impact on the national politics. It will certainly play an important role in the forthcoming general elections in 2018.

The PTI has largely hinged its politics on the outcome of these pleas and dreams a favourable result to damage the PML-N. The ruling party believes that the judgment would further marginalize the PTI, which already has its fortunes greatly waned with the passage of time mainly due to Imran Khan’s policies.

Apart from the pitched verbal bouts the PML-N and PTI representatives fight on the days the top court holds hearing, equally vehemently claiming that they stood vindicated during the proceedings, Imran Khan is on his usual campaign by holding rallies and has now planned more public meetings only in Punjab that has been his focus all the time. He is endeavouring to keep the issue alive in the people’s mind. 

The endless bitterness prevailing between the PML-N and PTI has never been witnessed in Pakistan’s political history. Both sides are tireless. The PML-N and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) did not have any good relations but the acrimony between them is not appallingly showcased on the spur of the moment. They observe certain limits that are alien to the PTI.

At times, there is a visible competition between two spokesmen of the PTI even to take lead over each other that caused bad blood between them. Naeemul Haq and Fawad Chaudhry are on special duty in the Supreme Court to take on their rivals after and in-between every hearing. Imran Khan also doesn’t lag behind and surpasses them from time to time.

On the other side, there is a large PML-N squad that has been given the assignment to counter the PTI. It comprises Minister of State for Information Maryam Aurangzeb, Federal Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Tallal Chaudhry, Danyal Aziz and Maiza Hameed. Federal Minister Mohammad Zubair is among those who project the PML-N stand in TV programmes on a daily basis.

This intense war of words has no impact on the judges and is mostly meant to sway the public opinion.