ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday sought Terms of Reference (TORs) from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) after they agreed on formation of a Commission to probe Panama leaks.
However, PTI said that it would accept the Commission under terms of reference (TORs) prepared by the Joint Opposition.
A five-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Amir Hani Muslim, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Hassan resumed hearing of petitions on Panama Papers in Islamabad at 01:00 am on Tuesday.
The Court sought ToRs and suggestions about Panama Commission from both the parties. The Court also asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family to submit their replies in two days.
In his remarks, the Chief Justice said that the Commission would enjoy equal powers as the Supreme Court had.
The Chief Justice asked both parties to show restraint. “We have to save the country from unrest and crises,” Justice Jamali said, adding that the Panama Papers issue had affected the entire country.
Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said that the Court would not take too long to announce its verdict.
The PML-N lawyer Aslam Butt informed the court that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had agreed on the formation of a Judicial Commission. He also gave consent to the investigation of his London properties.
Later, the Court adjourned the hearing till 11:00 am on Thursday.
Earlier in the morning after beginning hearing of Panama Case, the Chief Justice said that as per replies submitted in the Court, no institution agreed to investigate the allegations surfaced in Panama Papers.
Justice Amir Hani Muslim said that media and political parties should have exercised responsibility regarding the case. He said that the bench was specifically constituted to hear Panama case, adding that the case would be heard on daily basis.
PTI Challenges IHC’s verdict on November 2 protest in SC
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Faisal Hussain filed a petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the verdict by Islamabad High Court (IHC) on PTI’s November 2 protest.
The petitioner said that the IHC’s ruling was in contrary to fundamental human rights and requested the Court to issue directives to the government for removal of barriers and other hurdles in various routes.
Talking to media outside his residence in Bana Gala on Tuesday morning, the PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that how it was tantamount to pressurizing judiciary if I asked for justice from the courts regarding government crackdown on his party workers.
Imran Khan again asked that under which laws, PTI workers were being arrested and I had been put under house arrest.
