SC to hear Hussain Nawaz reservations

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, will conduct a hearing on reservations raised by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ’s son, Hussain Nawaz. The application submitted by the premier’s son raised reservations regarding two members of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to probe Panamagate as per the apex court’s instructions. The plea says these two JIT members have links with former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). It was pleaded that the request should be heard by the fivemember bench in the Panama case. Hussain Nawaz had asked the Supreme Court’s special bench to replace the two Panama JIT members for transparent and unbiased inquiry. The hearing is scheduled for May 29. The contentious members of the JIT are Bilal Rasool and Amer Aziz. The JIT probing the prime minister’s family’s business dealings abroad had submitted an initial report before the Supreme Court on Monday. After reviewing the report, the contents of which were not made public, the three-member special bench of the apex court, formed to monitor the JIT’s proceedings, ordered Wajid Zia, head of the JIT, to take the stand. Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, the head of the bench, warned Zia that the tasks assigned to the JIT should be completed within the 60-day time-frame provided to the team. “We will not allow extra time under any circumstances,” Justice Shiekh Azmat, a member of the bench, added. He had directed the FIA director to report any problems faced by the members of the JIT to the court. Justice Azmat also told Zia that the court “does not disagree with the report.” Advocate Faisal Chaudhry, representing the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf, asked the court to make the JIT’s report public. However, the bench said that the report will only be made public at a “suitable time” .