Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday concluded hearing the sensitive Panama Papers case against beleaguered Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family for alleged corruption and money laundering, but reserved its verdict that could jeopardise his political future.
The judgment was reserved after counsels of both sides concluded their arguments before a three-judge bench of the apex court headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan. The bench did not immediately give any date to give its judgement.
The six-member JIT was set up in May by the Supreme Court with the mandate to probe the Sharif family for allegedly failing to provide the trail of money used to buy properties in London in 1990s.
Sharif Rejects Allegations
Sharif, 67, has rejected all the allegations of corruption against him and his family.
But the JIT report is turning into a major challenge to Sharif, the three-time prime minister. Opposition parties accuse his family of using their political influence to amass wealth by unlawful means and are demanding his resignation.
So far Sharif has refused to quit, calling the investigators' report a compilation of "allegations and assumptions". His decision to stay in power was endorsed by the federal Cabinet last week.
Exercising their right to respond to the arguments by defence lawyers, the petitioners in their brief remarks urged the apex court to disqualify Sharif and order a trial against him for allegedly hiding assets and failing to disclose the sources of income used to set up businesses by his children.
"The prime minister has failed to give satisfactory answer to the allegation of money laundering and should be disqualified," argued the lawyer of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan, one of the petitioners against Sharif.
Sharif’s Children Get a Warning
The children of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could face up to seven years in jail if it was proved that they had submitted fake documents to the Panama panel, probing the money laundering allegations against the family, the Supreme Court warned on Thursday.
Three-Member Judicial Panel Issues Warning
The three-member panel of judges warned on Thursday:
The punishment for submitting forged documents in the court is seven years in jail.
The JIT, among other things, has observed that some of the documents submitted by the children of Sharif, 67, were tampered with.
A trust deed provided by the Prime Minister's daughter Maryam Nawaz, and executed in 2006, was written in Calibri font which was not commercially available till 2007. It was also notarised from an office in London on Saturday which is officially an off day, raising concern about the authenticity of the document.
Similarly, the Government of Dubai has revealed that the documents of Gulf Steel Mills, provided by the Prime Minister's son Hussain Nawaz, were forged as there was no record of those documents.
Justice Ejaz Afzal is heading the probe panel comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan.
Sharif’s Children’s Lawyer Warned Against Media Trial
They also warned Salman Akram Raja, the lawyer of Sharif's children, against a media trial in the case after some of the documents presented by him were leaked to the media and were discussed in talk shows on Wednesday. Justice Saeed said:
You have been conducting a trial in the media and the documents (submitted to the court) have already been discussed in the media.
“There is a media dais outside, you should give your arguments there as well,” he told Raja, who assured the court that he had not released any documents to media. Meanwhile, Raja presented his arguments in details. The arguments were still going on when the court adjourned the proceedings till Friday.
Sharif Family Needs to Provide Money Trail
The judges again on Thursday asked the Sharif family to provide the money trail of its various businesses in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UK.
“The main question is, where did the money for these businesses come from,” asked the panel.
Later, Fawad Chaudhry, member of a legal team representing Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), told media outside the court after the hearing that the hearing might be completed by Friday. He said:
For us the case is over. Sharif would have to go home and then jail for corruption. His children would also land in jail for forgery.
Minister of State for Information Marriyam Aurangzeb said that the Prime Minister has been vindicated as there is no proof of any corruption against him. She said:
The Prime Minister was accused of money laundering and corruption, but none of the allegations have been proved.
The scandal surfaced when the Panama Papers leaks lin 2016 revealed that Sharif's sons — Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz, and his daughter Maryam — owned offshore companies which managed their family's properties. The assets in question include four expensive flats in Park Lane, London.
Opposition parties allege that the London flats were purchased through illegal money which Sharif and his family have rejected. However, they have been unable to satisfy the court about the source of money used to purchase these properties.
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