Court to take up JI petition against Pakistanis named in Panama Leaks on Nov 23

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court of Pakistan has formed a two-member bench to hear a petition seeking investigation against 259 Pakistani nationals named in the Panama Papers, ARY News reported on Friday.

A two-member bench, headed by Justice Ijaz Afzal and comprising Justice Maqbool Baqir, will hear the petition on Nov 23.

The bench has been formed on appeals separately filed by Jamaat Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haque and Advocate Tariq Asad.

The JI chief, in his petition, has adopted a stance that Pakistan was making supreme sacrifices in the war against terrorism but the government officials, politicians and business executives were making investments in offshore tax havens through illegal means.

Seeking an injunction against 259 citizens, the petitioner requested the top court to order five respondents — the federal government through the parliamentary affairs ministry, secretaries of law and justice, finance and cabinet division and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) — to arrest all those who had invested ‘stolen money’ in offshore companies and bring the public money back to the country.

It merits highlighting here that as many as 259 Pakistanis were named in the Panama Papers who had invested in offshore companies.

As result of the world’s biggest leak, Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was ousted by the Supreme Court in its landmark verdict on July 28 this year.

Sharif family members are facing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) references filed in compliance with Supreme Court’s July 28 orders.