Lawyers to hold convention on PanamaLeaks verdict

Nawaz may be asked to bow out

Islamabad

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has decided to convene a lawyers' convention in order to view the verdict recently announced by the Supreme Court on PanamaLeaks case. 

Aftab Ahmed Bajwa, SCBA Secretary told the Supreme Court reporters on Wednesday that the SCBA Executive Committee had convened a meeting to be held on May 2, 2017 wherein it would decide the date and venue for convening the lawyers representative convention.

The agenda of the convention is to take the lawyers' bodies representatives into confidence and to develop consensus as to whether the SC verdict in Panamagate case should be accepted in the same way as the political forces accepted it or to ask Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down on moral grounds.

He said that the other day, Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) vice chairman had demanded of the prime minister to step down after the PanamaLeaks verdict but it was a statement in his personal capacity and it could not be taken as the voice of the entire legal fraternity.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Ahsen Bhoon, PBC Vice Chairman had resolved that legal fraternity of the country would be united and after consultations with all the bar councils and bar associations, next line of action would be drawn for taking steps which would be inevitable for the progress of the country, strengthening the dignity of the judiciary as well as for the eradication of corruption from the country.

Aftab Bajwa, however, said that they wanted to take the viewpoint of the representatives of the lawyers community across the country and in this respect the SCBA Executive Committee had decided to convene its meeting on May 2, wherein date and venue for holding a convention of representatives of lawyers community across the country would be announced for evolving a consensus for demanding resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

SCBA secretary, however, said that it was expected that the venue of the said convention might be federal capital. Aftab Bajwa also expressed his reservations over the Supreme Court’s verdict in PanamaLeaks case, ordering formation of Joint Investigation Team (JIT) comprising members from FIA, NAB, Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, State Bank of Pakistan as well as representatives of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI).

He said that except, ISI and MI, how other institutions including FIA, NAB, SECP etc can ensure transparent investigation in the matter and how it could question the Chief Executive of the country. 

Meanwhile, former President SCBA Ali Ahmed Kurd who got prominence in the Lawyer’s Movement while talking to the reporters said that over 400 people including businessmen, traders, politicians, former civil and military bureaucrats had surfaced also in the Panama Leaks, who had shifted their capital in millions of dollars abroad by investing in offshore companies, giving irreparable loss to the country’s economy however, our worthy politicians instead of taking notices of these over 400 people, just concentrated only on the prime minister and his family just for gaining political objectives.

Had the huge capital these over 400 personalities invested in their own country, there would have been no problems of employment and price hike, Ali Ahmed Kurd said, adding that if the said capital was invested in the country for establishing industries, it could have generated thousands of job opportunities to our educated youths. 

We have not yet achieved any progress in the 21st century except that we have been able to have shoes otherwise we might have been walking so far bare-footed, Ali Ahmed Kurd said in a lighter vein. 

Ali Ahmed Kurd also objected to the two-year extension of military courts adding that it is the failure of our judicial system. He recalled that they ran on the streets and roads for several hours in the lawyer’s movement and traveled day and night across the country for the restoration of judiciary however, even after restoring the Chief Justice of the country, he came across large number of people, including men and women young and old and of every ethnicity from across the country in the building of the Supreme Court running from pillar to post in pursuit of justice.