Panama JIT to present final report to Supreme Court on July 10

ISLAMABAD: The special bench of the Supreme Court has directed the Panama case Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the Sharif family's financial assets to submit its final report on July 10.

The direction was given after the JIT submitted its third and second-last progress report to the bench, headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh.

The JIT, formed on May 6 in light of the Supreme Court's April 20 judgment in the Panama case, was given 60 days to complete its probe. However, since the original deadline was falling on a Friday, and with the JIT taking a day off on Eid, July 10 has been decided as the deadline to submit its final report. 

After perusing the progress report, the bench directed Attorney General (AG) Ashtar Ausaf Ali to inform the court if the government objects to making public the JIT report on Hussain Nawaz's interrogation picture leak. 

Justice Ahsan asked the JIT's head, Federal Investigation Agency Additional Director Wajid Zia, if government departments are cooperating with the JIT. Zia replied that the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) provided the investigators with the relevant record whereas the Federal Board of Revenue has yet to do so. 

Justice Ejaz inquired from AG about the delay in providing the relevant record to the JIT. 

When the AG was asked by Justice Ahsan if a probe into allegations of record tampering is under way by the government, the AG said an inquiry is being held and its results will be shared soon.

Justice Azmat remarked that the court has ordered all government departments to cooperate with the JIT in its probe. 

The bench also directed Zia to list with the AG all the relevant records that the JIT needs to complete its probe. 

Walking into the court, Zia briefly spoke to journalists. When asked if the investigators will be working throughout Eid, Zia replied that they will only take the first Eid day off. 

On June 7, the JIT had submitted its midterm report before the special bench.

The bench had expressed satisfaction with the JIT’s progress in the probe, and reiterated that the investigation has to be completed within the stipulated 60-day period.

Since then, the case was marred in further controversies after the prime minister’s (PM) son, Hussain Nawaz, accused the JIT of deliberately leaking his interrogation picture, and the JIT submitted a report in the court accusing several official quarters, including the PM House, of impeding the probe.

On Tuesday, the special bench dismissed Hussain’s petition asking for an end to the recording of the JIT’s sessions. The judges observed that the videos will not be submitted in court for evidence but will be used to maintain the accuracy of the sessions’ transcripts. At the same hearing, the judges gave the attorney general more time to submit the government’s response to the JIT’s accusations of creating hurdles in its probe.

Since the last progress report, the JIT summoned PM Nawaz Sharif and his brother and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Meanwhile, Hussain has been summoned five times by the high-profile probe team while his younger brother, Hassan Nawaz, has appeared twice. 

The JIT has also summoned former interior minister Senator Rehman Malik on June 23 and the PM's son-in-law MNA Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar on June 24. 

On May 22, the JIT had submitted its first progress report, at which the bench had also expressed its satisfaction and allowed the investigators to continue their work. During that hearing, a request by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to make the report public was rejected by the court, which observed that it will do so when it deems necessary.

The JIT

The six-member JIT comprises its head, Zia, Amer Aziz of the State Bank of Pakistan, SECP Executive Director Communication Bilal Rasool, Irfan Naeem Mangi of National Accountability Bureau, Brigadier (retd) Nauman Saeed of the Inter-Services Intelligence and Brigadier Kamran Khurshid from the Military Intelligence.

The Federal Judicial Academy in Islamabad has been declared as the secretariat of the JIT.