Panamagate Case hearing adjourned till tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: A five-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa adjourned hearing of the Panama Papers Case against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s children till tomorrow (Wednesday), ARY News reported.

Chairmen of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) appeared before the court today.

Chairman FBR when the bench asked about the Panama Papers scam, informed the court that 343 people including members of Sharif family have been issued notices .

He said Maryam Nawaz in her response to the FBR has denied ownership of any offshore company or a property in overseas. She didn’t say anything about being a trustee in any company on the query of the bench, the FBR chief said.

The bench expressed its disappointment when Chairman NAB informed the court that the accountability watchdog only acts when a regulator approaches for it. “NAB’s position has remained that Panama Papers] does not come within its jurisdiction,” Justice Khosa observed. “Laws concerning the NAB give it the authority to undertake investigations,”  the Justice Khosa told the NAB chief.

The bench remarked that ” we knew about the regulators of power and gas. Now we have come to know about the regulator of NAB. “If NAB does not have the authority to investigate, who does?” Justice Ijazul Hassan asked.

When Justice Khosa inquired about NAB’s actions regarding bank accounts and monetary transactions, the chairman assured the court that investigations will be undertaken.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his children have submitted a fresh petition on the additional documents submitted by Imran Khan. They have pleaded in the application that the additional dossier should not be made part of the case record.

The prime minister’s children have contended in their plea that the new documents have been submitted after completion of the arguments of their lawyers. They sought eight weeks from the court to submit their reply of the fresh dossier , if the new papers being included in the record.

NAB had earlier submitted documents regarding Hudibiya Paper Mills reference in the apex court. The dossier comprises of over 100 pages also included the confessional statement of incumbent Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

The counsels of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Awami Muslim League and Jamat Islami have completed their arguments.

The Panamagate Scandal

The leaked papers, comprising 11.5 million documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, exposes how some of the world’s most powerful people have secreted their money offshore, and also implicated Sharif’s sons Hasan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz.

Three of Sharif’s four children are named in the Panama Papers – daughter Maryam, who has been tipped to be his political successor and sons Hasan and Hussain – with the records showing they owned London real estate through offshore companies administered by Mossack Fonseca.

The Panama Papers have whipped up a storm of controversy over offshore wealth, ensnaring political leaders, sports figures and underworld members across the globe in the scandal.