SC turns down Hussain Nawaz’s objection on JIT members

The Supreme Court on Monday, turned down Hussain Nawaz’s petition to drop two of its members from the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to probe the Panama Papers case.

“We are not going to remove any JIT member on mere conjecture unless something concrete comes up because the prime minister is the one being investigated,” Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, who heads the three-judge implementation bench of the Supreme Court, observed on Monday.

Hussain Nawaz, Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s elder son, is being investigated as part of probe to establish the ruling PM’s assets abroad. Hussain had objected to the inclusion of two members- Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan’s Bilal Rasool and State Bank of Pakistan’s Amer Aziz — accusing them of being close to the PML-N’s political rivals.

However, Justice Khan explained that the JIT members had been nominated after a lot of scrutiny and after considering their experience. He added that because of mere suspicions, these members could not be replaced.

“The apprehensions should be reasonable, otherwise we will have to summon angels from heaven to conduct the investigation,” Justice Khan retorted when Hussain Nawaz’s lawyer requested the court to appoint someone neutral with no previous relationship with anybody.

Justice Khan also highlighted the fact that the JIT was supposed to just collect the facts and present it before the court, which ultimately had the authority to decide what was admissible and what was not.

The court will now resume the hearing in the Panama Papers case and summon Hussain Nawaz whenever required.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=54919

Posted by fatimaarshad on May 30 2017. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.