Panama verdict: Justice Khosa's dissenting note references 'The Godfather'

ISLAMABAD: A dissenting note by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa in the Supreme Court's verdict on the Panama Leaks case starts with reference to Mario Puzo’s popular 1969 novel 'The Godfather'.

In its verdict announced Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered the formation of a JIT to probe the money trail but did not disqualify Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The JIT which will comprise members from FIA, NAB, SBP, SECP, IS and MI will complete and present its finding to a bench of the apex court in 60 days. Nawaz Sharif, Hasan and Husein Nawaz are directed to appear and associate themselves with the JIT as and when required.

The note stated that the popular 1969 novel “The Godfather” by Mario Puzo recounts the violent take of a Mafia family and the epigraph selected by the author was fascinating:  

Behind every great fortune there is a crime.
— Balzac

 

The novel was a popular sensation which was made into an acclaimed film. It is believed that this epigraph was inspired by a sentence that was written by Honoré de Balzac and its original version in French reads as follows:

 

Le secret des grandes fortunes sans cause apparente est un crime oublié, parce qu’il a été proprement fait.

 

(The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed)

 

The note then states that it is ironical and a sheer coincidence that the present case revolves around that very sentence attributed to Balzac.

Read the dissenting note here.