Supreme Court will take up Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) plea seeking directives to the government to bring back money allegedly looted by more than 400 Pakistanis whose names appeared in the Panama Papers released in April last year. Prior to announcing its verdict in the Panama Papers case, a five-member larger bench led by Justice Sardar Asif Saeed Khan Khosa de-linked the JI petition from the main petition filed by PTI chairman Imran Khan observing that the JI did not make the Sharif family as respondent so the petition would be adjudicated separately.
Making the Federation through the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, secretaries Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Finance and Cabinet Division and the National Accountability Chairman respondents, chief of the JI Sirajul Haq urged the apex court to issue directives to the respondents particularly National Accountability Bureau to initiate an inquiry against all those Pakistanis who "illegally" transferred money out of the country and invested in offshore companies; and to bring back that "public" money.
Sirajul Haq submitted, "transferring of national wealth illegally to establish the offshore companies is an offence under the section 9 of NAO and NAB authorities/chairman has powers to take cognizance of the said offence. The owners, who made illegal investments in offshore companies must be tried under the "Commission of Inquiry" and its trial should be conducted under the laws of Pakistan. Non-action and slackness on the part of the government agencies are subject to the judicial review by this august court."
Talking to Business Recorder, JI's counsel Taufiq Asif said that his client believed in across-the-board inquiry against all "corrupt" Pakistani politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats whose names were revealed in the Panama Papers. The Supreme Court on Friday fixed the case before a two-judge bench of Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Maqbool Baqar which will take up the matter on November 23.
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