ISLAMABAD: The
Supreme Cou
rt on Thursday observ
ed that if children of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif fail to satisfy the cou
rt on matters revolving their assets abroad, the holder of the public office – prime minister – will have to face the consequences.
Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, who heads the three-judge implementation bench, said that if the children succeed in satisfying the court, then holder of the public office, PM Sharif, will stand exonerated.
Justice Khan observ
ed that the prime minister himself admitt
ed that he had been chairman of the board of Capital FZE. He said even if the prime minister did not draw any salary, still it is tantamount to holding an asset that has not been declared.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan observ
ed that the PM’s children may face consequences for submitting ‘forged’ d
ocuments to the joint investigation team (JIT) probing the ruling family’s offshore assets.
The bench asked Additional Attorney General Rana Waqar as to what punishment is prescribed for forgery. To this, the law officer said that seven years of imprisonment can be awarded to someone who is found to be involved in forgery.
Justice Ahsan observ
ed that the Dubai government had reveal
ed that the d
ocuments of Gulf Steel Mills (GSM) were forged. “Dubai Customs has no record of transportation of machinery of the Gulf Steel Mills from Dubai to Saudi Arabia,” he observed. “We cannot shut our eyes … law will take its course because fake d
ocument
s have been submitted in the
Supreme Court,” Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh observed, adding that the bench could not even imagine the placement of forged d
ocuments in the apex court.
The bench also lamented over Qatari Prince Hammad Bin Jassam’s attitude with the joint investigation team (JIT), observing that neither he agreed to record his statement on video link nor was he willing to come to Pakistan Embassy in Doha.
Salman Akram Raja, counsel for Maryam Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz, started his arguments. As he took the rostrum, the bench expressed displeasure over releasing the parts of his reply. The bench observ
ed that the counsel had made the commitment that he would provide the d
ocuments in chamber but rather those were released to media. The bench told the counsel that if he wished to fight the legal battle on media, he might go to the dais outside the court. However, Salman denied the allegation, stating that he had no idea as to who leaked the d
ocuments.
Published in Daily Times, July 21st, 2017.
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