JIT examines SC verdict in Panama Papers case

ISLAMABAD: The multi-agency joint investigation team (JIT), constituted to probe allegations against the prime minister and his children stemming from the Panama Papers, held another meeting in the Federal Judicial Academy here on Tuesday.Sources said that the team examined the detailed judgement issued by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case on April 20. As per the verdict, the JIT comprises officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI). It is headed by FIA Additional Director General Wajid Zia and Amer Aziz of the SBP, Bilal Rasool of the SECP, Irfan Naeem Mangi of NAB, retired Brig Mohammad Nauman Saeed of the ISI and Brig Kamran Khurshid of the MI are its members. The court has ordered the government to allocate Rs20 million to the JIT so that it can independently function and does not feel handicapped in its working. Sources said that the departments concerned would bear the expenses of their representatives incurred within the country. Since the Supreme Court has empowered the JIT members to travel abroad to collect evidence, Rs20m will be spent on their foreign tour, according to the sources. They said that since Mr Mangi was out of country, he did not attend the meeting, but was likely to participate in the next meeting.