SC being pressurised to get choice verdict: Asma

PanamaLeaks case

Justice Wajih says apex court moving in right direction

ISLAMABAD: Prominent lawyer Asma Jehangir said that political pressure was being mounted on the apex court by some quarters to get the verdict in PanamaLeaks case of choice while Justice (R) Wajihuddin Ahmad believed that the Supreme Court (SC) was moving in the right direction.

Talking to The News here on Tuesday, Asma Jehangir said, “The courts never give verdicts according to the wishes of the people as they always follow law and Constitution and never get influenced by popular political sloganeering and pressure tactics. The courts are now more independent and those who want to influence them would hopefully fail in their designs.”

She said that the PanamaLeaks case had been politicised to the extent where many people were not paying regard to the law and Constitution and only serving their political interests. She said, “The judges are working independently and they should not get influenced by political rallies and public meetings.”

To a question, she said that the petitioners tried their best to prove that Maryam Nawaz was dependent on Nawaz Sharif but the SC bench never accepted their arguments and concluded that she was not dependent on the prime minister.

Asma Jehangir further said, "I think the PanamaLeaks case has become political and the political parties are playing politics on this issue. I am still unable to understand what the Supreme Court wants to achieve by constituting a Joint Investigation Team (JIT)."

Talking to The News, Justice (R) Wajihuddin Ahmad said that a lot of politics had been done on the PanamaLeaks case but “I think the Supreme Court is moving in the right direction and dealing the case in line with the Constitution.”

He said it happened in Pakistan because whenever the courts took up any important case, the political parties tried to influence them but now the people saw that the judges were doing their work with complete independence without taking care of personal wishes of the people.

Replying to a question, he said that the verdict in the PanamaLeaks case showed that all the five judges had concluded that Maryam Nawaz was not dependent on Nawaz Sharif but this fact could not delink the prime minister from this high-profile case.

“The prime minister has to give answers to the questions raised by the judges because there is a lot of confusion about purchase of property and transfer of money from one country to another one,” he said.