Panama Leaks Verdict: Supreme Court Orders JIT to Probe Prime Minister and Family

Supreme court larger bench has delivered verdict in the historic Panama Leaks case saying a Joint Investigating Team to be formed to probe matter further. “How was the money transferred to Qatar, needs to be investigated”, said the judgment.

The judgment said DG FIA was unable to curb white color crime. It further said, Chairman NAB was unwilling to investigate the matter that is why the court setup a Joint Investigating Team.


The court ordered Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Hassan Nawaz and Hussain to appear before the JIT. The JIT will deliver its report every two weeks to supreme court.

The JIT will consist of FIA, NAB, SECP, State Bank, ISI and MI and it will complete its investigation in 60 days.

It was a split decision with two judges, Justice Gulzar and Justice Khosa were in favour of de-notifying the prime minister while three judges believed prime minister should appear before the JIT to ascertain his role in the Panama case.

Qatari letter led Justice Khosa to disqualify Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif

File photo of Qatari Prince, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani.

It was Qatari letter that played a key role in leading Justice Asif Saeed Khosa to call for disqualification of prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Justice Khosa believed that the letter from Qatari prince Mr. Al-Thani went against the stated position of the Prime Minister when it was juxtaposed with the speeches made by him.

Prime minister in his first address to the nation had talked about a factory near Makkah but there was no mention of any factory in Dubai or real estate business in Qatar. Ironically he had named “near Makkah” as the place where they had formed their factory and not Jeddah.

“My father setup a steel factory near Makkah during the days of our forced exile [Musharraf era], for which money was borrowed from Saudi banks”, said prime  minister in his first speech.

Hence according to prime minister, money was borrowed from Saudi banks to setup a steel factory near Makkah. There was no mention of Dubai factory, or investments in Qatar.

In his second address to the nation, prime minister did not talk about any specifics used for the acquisition of the Jeddah factory, nor had he mentioned any factory in Dubai or business partnership with Qatari royal family.

The official version till this time was that the sale of steel factory in Jeddah was the source of funds that were used to purchase flats in London.

Not only that, the prime minister had categorically stated in his speech that he had informed his countrymen about all the important stages of his family’s journey in business and that it was the entire background of his family’s business.

His address to the national assembly altered his earlier statements. For the first time the prime minister introduced a factory in Dubai.

The prime minister stated that the sale of a factory in Dubai in 1980 generated 33.37 million dirhams or $9 millions dollars that were used to buy steel factory in Jeddah. The Jeddah factory was then sold for about 64 million riyals or $17 million dollars that were used by prime minister’s sons to purchase the flats in London.

In short, the altered version of the prime minister till this time was that funds generated through the sale of Dubai factory were used to setup steel factory in Jeddah and funds generated from the sale of Jeddah factory were used to purchase flats in London.

Again, there was no mention of any investment in Qatar whatsoever.

“Nothing has been concealed and that everything is like an open book”, the prime minister stated in his speech.

Prime minister’s councils presented more or less the same story before the honorable court until one day Muhammad Akram Sheikh, senior council for Prime Minister’s family, presented a mysterious letter from a prince of Qatar. Justice Khosa used the words “dramatic” and “theatrical impact” while referring to the time when Mr. Akram Sheikh took out the letter from his briefcase.

Al-Thani’s letter completely negated what the prime minister had said through his three speeches.

“The bombshell [Qatari Letter] has caused more damage to the case of respondent No. 1 [Nawaz Sharif] and his children than to the case of the petitioners.

“In fact the devastation wreaked by that document upon the case of respondent No. 1 and his children may be incalculable and beyond their contemplation”, Justice Khosa wrote in his judgment.

In his letter the Qatari prince stated that according to his recollection, Mian Muhammad Sharif, late father of the prime minister, had invested with his family an aggregated sum of 12 million dirhams originated from the sale of factory in Dubai.

“With the above mentioned statement [Al-Thani’s letter] received from Qatar it becomes obvious that they are mutually destructive [with Nawaz Sharif’s earlier statements] and cannot coexist simultaneously as the truth”, said Justice Khosa in his judgment.

Prime minister’s speeches spoke of a route of funds which was Jeddah-London or Dubai-Jeddah-London but the statement from Qatar disclosed a totally different route, i.e. Dubai-Doha-London.

The honorable judge also noted that the Qatari prince had no personal knowledge of most of the critical things and for the remaining things he was “evasive at best”.

“It was not just the resources and the routes of resources which were being changed from time to time but it was the “truth” which was being improved, moulded and sacrificed at the altar of expedience”, wrote Justice Khosa

Why did Supreme Court treat Gillani and Nawaz Sharif differently?

File photo of former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani (right) and current prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

It’s a tale of two legal cases, two Prime Ministers and two different crimes. One was a case of contempt of court while the other was of making illegal assets, eight offshore companies in offshore tax havens, dealings in millions of dollars in property transactions, dubious business deals, money laundering, lying in the parliament, contradictory statements and so on.

Both crimes were committed by the sitting Prime Ministers of Pakistan. The superior court found the first one unforgivable and ordered disqualification of the then Prime Minster Yusuf Raza Gilani.

On the other hand, the second crime has allegedly been committed by the present Prime Minister and his family as revealed in the Panama leaks. The honorable court wrote in its verdict that although the prime minister could not present convincing evidence to prove him innocent, they need further investigations into the matter.

They ordered the formation of a JIT to further probe into the matter. Though the nature of these two cases was different but keeping in view the outcomes of these cases, it can be assumed that contempt of court is far worse than any other crime.

The Supreme Court asked the government in 2012 to write a letter to the Swiss authorities to restart the prosecution of Asif Zardari. The said case dated back to the 1990s in which it that he allegedly laundered $60m while his wife, Benazir Bhutto, was prime minister of Pakistan.

Then prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani refused, arguing that the president enjoyed immunity as head of state according to article 248 of the Constitution which states, “No criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the President or a Governor in any Court during his term of office. No process for the arrest or imprisonment of the President or a Governor shall issue from any Court during his term of office.”

While the refusal of the Prime Minister to write a letter to the Swiss authorities cannot be defended but he had constitutional reasons for not obeying the court orders. “Agreeing to court orders would have meant letting President of Pakistan be answerable to a foreign magistrate”, said barrister Aitizaz Ahsan.

Despite this fact, he was tried for contempt of court for not sending the letter to Swiss authorities. Capping months of legal trench warfare between the government and the judiciary, Gilani was stripped of his office by a short statement by the then chief justice.

The constitution is very clear about how the disqualification process is supposed to work and the court had quite extraordinarily brushed that aside and made up new rules of the game. Many constitutional experts did not agree on whether this was legal. However, the government accepted the court’s decision.

The case against the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family is different but comparable to Yousaf Raza Gillani’s case. The Panama leaks revealed evidence regarding the offshore companies and properties owned by the PM and his family.

The Prime Minister and his family accepted that they owned the flats in Mayfair London. The burden of proof lied on them.

On top of that, the PM gave contradictory statements in his two addresses to the nation, in the parliament and before the Supreme Court. Despite these facts the court did not find sufficient evidence to convict him. It leads common people of Pakistan to the conclusion that either the former PM Gilani was wrongfully disqualified or the court showed leniency in case of PM Nawaz Sharif.

Now that the JIT has been formed, one can but only hope that its findings will not end up like all the other JITs in the recent past.

PEMRA Bars Geo News from airing Ehsanullah Ehsan’s interview

Ex Spokesman of Taliban and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Ehsanullah Ehsan.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority has barred Geo News from airing a recorded interview of Ehsanullah Ehsan, the ex spokesperson of the outlawed TTP and Jamat ul Ahrar. The interview was recorded by Saleem Safi for his Jirga program.

PEMRA’s press release states that it is against the rules of PEMRA to give air time to a terrorist or terrorist organization. “Ehsanullah Ehsan has remained spokes person of the terrorist organization TTP and has confessed to the killing of thousands of Pakistanis”, reads the press release.

On April 17, DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor told a media briefing that Ehsanullah Ehsan was in Army’s custody and that he voluntarily presented himself for arrest.


Later, through a confessional video, Mr. Ehsan talked about how TTP mislead youth to join their organization and fight against Pakistan Army and kill innocent people. He also said that India’s spy agency RAW and Afghanistan’s NDS provide protective cover to TTP.

Saleem Safi, a renowned journalist who hosts his Jirga program on Geo News, recorded Ehsan’s interview which was to be aired today.

It is not clear whether Geo News will comply with PEMRA’s orders.

“Ehsanullah Ehsan is not glorifying terrorism in his interview.

“The interview exposes how terrorists mislead the youth and are infact working for foreign hostile agencies.

“PEMRA’s ban on such interview shows a lack of judgment”, said a journalist associated with Geo News who requested not to be named.

Imran Khan to disclose name of messenger bringing 10 billion offer

PTI chairman Imran Khan has challenged the ruling Sharif family to bring a defamation case against him in court and he’ll disclose the name of the person who brought their 10 billion offer to him. He said this while addressing a rally in Parade Ground Islamabad.

Imran Khan was informed during the rally that the Sharif family is filing defamation case against him for wrongly accusing them of offering him 10 billion rupees for keeping mum on Panama case.

“They are asking me to disclose name of the person bringing their 10 billion offer to me”, said Imran Khan.


“I would gladly disclose his name before of the court.

“Because I will be able to ask protective cover for that person as everyone is well aware Sharifs will target him after that”, he explained.

Imran Khan further said that not just him but they also offered two billion to that person if he succeeded in convincing me.

PTI chairman announced country wide protests till the resignation of PM Nawaz Sharif’s resignation. He called on the people of Pakistan to do a social boycott of the prime minister.

International Day of Sports celebrated

An exhibition volleyball match marking the International Day of Sports for Development and Peace was played between Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET) and the University of Karachi at the SSUET campus on April 6.

In what turned out to be a one sided contest, SSUET emerged victorious in straight sets with the scores 25-14, 25-18 and 26-24.

The SSUET captain Asif alongwith Humayon, Sohail, Azadar and Hatim outclassed the opponents. KU's Anus and Ammar offered some resistance to but they were unable to change the complexion of the match.

Shahid Masood, Joint Secretary, Pakistan Volleyball Federation, and Secretary Sindh Volleyball Association, was the chief guest on the occasion and he appreciated the efforts of SSUET in promoting the sports.

In the end, Shahid Masood, alongwith the SSUET Registrar, Syed Sarfraz Ali, and the SSUET Director Sports, Mubashir Mukhtar, distributed the prizes and souvenirs to both the teams. A large number of faculty members, staff and students from both the universities witnessed the match.