On Friday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court (SC) began deliberations on a petition filed by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) requesting an investigation into all Pakistanis mentioned in the Panama Papers leaks. A two-member bench led by Justice Sardar Tariq, including Justice Ameenuddin, heard the petition. JI chief Sirajul Haq was present during the proceedings.
As the hearing commenced, JI proposed the establishment of a judicial commission to investigate the Pakistanis implicated in the Panama leaks. Justice Tariq questioned the timing of this request and asked why JI hadn’t approached institutions like the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), National Accountability Bureau (NAB), or Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for an investigation in the past seven years.
The bench also showed dissatisfaction with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s case segregation from the Panama Papers leaks. Justice Tariq queried why all cases involving Pakistani individuals named in the Panama Papers were not heard simultaneously. He further questioned JI’s motives, suggesting that a specific family was the target.
In response to the court’s concerns, JI’s lawyer clarified that they were not targeting any particular individual named in the Panama leaks, to which the bench head countered that they had done so in 2016.
Questioning how action can be taken against 436 Pakistanis without proper notification, the SC advised JI not to lean on the judiciary for this matter. The court then adjourned the hearing for a month, requesting arguments on establishing a judicial commission at the next hearing.
The Panama Papers leaks led to the dismissal of then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2017, following the allegation by a joint investigation team that Sharif and his family concealed assets beyond their known sources of income.
The Panama Papers scandal involved leaking 11.5 million documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm. These documents unveiled the secretive offshore financial activities of some of the world’s most influential individuals, including the sons of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The disclosure of this information led to a nationwide debate on the appropriateness of Sharif retaining his position as Prime Minister.
