Apex court reserves judgement in Panamagate
Verdict on Sharif and his family wealth will be known in a week or two
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s political future hangs in the balance as the Supreme Court yesterday reserved its judgement in the Panamagate case after five-day hearing on the final report submitted by a team of investigators probing allegations of corruption and moneylaundering against Sharif and his family. The Supreme Court finished hearing arguments into Sharif’s family wealth, and will begin deliberating whether to disqualify the premier.
The court is expected to make a decision in a week or two, with analysts split on whether it will dismiss Sharif outright or recommend a fresh investigation and corruption trial by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). It had set up a six-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) comprising officers from the Federal Investigation Agency, State Bank, Security Exchange commission, National Accountability Bureau and the military intelligence set-up.
Few expect the judges to drop the case, since the Supreme Court appointed the investigatory panel that alleged the Sharif family’s wealth was beyond its means. It further accused his children, including presumed heir Maryam, of signing forged documents to hide ownership of posh London flats. Sharif has denied wrongdoing and slammed the 254-page report by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) as biased and slanderous.
He has also rejected opposition demands to stand down.
Sharif’s lawyers have been arguing that the JIT overstepped its remit, and disputed its findings.
The decision was announced by a three-judge bench supervising implementation of the Supreme Court’s April 20 verdict in the Panama leaks case related to the ruling family’s offshore wealth including four posh flats in London.
Ejaz Afzal Khan, who heads the three-judge Supreme Court panel hearing Sharif’s case, on Friday announced the hearings had been concluded by saying: “Judgement reserved”.
Ambit of the law
The issue of disqualification of the prime minister will be considered within the ambit of the law and the constitution; the bench assured and said it would give a date later for unveiling its judgement.
In the April 20 split verdict, a five-judge bench by 3-2 majority had ordered a thorough investigation of the allegations, with two judges in dissenting notes declaring the PM was not honest and trustworthy and that he should be disqualified.
Opposition parties believe Sharif is wobbling and expect the Supreme Court to deliver a knockout blow to his premiership by employing a little-used constitutional provision to dismiss a sitting official.
“From our legal perspective it’s crystal clear: he can’t survive this,” said Shafqat Mahmood, a lawmaker and senior official with the opposition PTI party.
Sharif’s allies interpret the court’s decision not to summon him as indicating that it will order a NAB investigation.
Such an outcome would be seen as something of a victory by the ruling PML-N party because it would probably allow Sharif to finish his term and even contest the next polls in 2018.
Sharif has faced numerous investigations since he served his first two terms in the 1990s and now has many pending NAB cases. Both those terms were cut short, and he spent a long time in exile after being deposed in a military coup in 1999.