The Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it would read out the much-awaited Panama Leaks verdict on April 20.
According to details, Panama case has been included in the Supreme Court cause list according to which the verdict is to be announced on Thursday, April 20 at 2pm.
The Supreme Court had reserved its decision about the high-profile case which put spotlight on offshore properties of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family.
On February 23, a five-member bench led by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa remarked that it will review all angles of the case in detail and then announce a verdict.
“It will not be short-judgement but a long judgement,” the bench maintained.
It all began in April 2016 with a huge leak of 11.5 million documents from the database of a Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca, exposing politicians, celebrities, businessmen and criminals who had set up offshore companies.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family came under fire at home with opposition parties accusing them of widespread corruption, after names of PM’s children cropped up in the leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm.
A five-member bench, headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa heard the case on daily basis. Other bench members are Justice Ejaz Afzal, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan.
The petitioners sought disqualification of the prime minister over the investments made in offshore companies by members of his family.
In his concluding remarks, Asif Saeed Khosa said that no short judgment is being passed. He said it is not an ordinary case. The court will consider all aspects of the case and give the judgment in accordance with the law and constitution.
During the proceedings, the apex court repeatedly raised questions on the documents and material produced before the court saying these require verification.
Responding to the points raised by Naeem Bukhari, the counsel of PTI, during the rebuttal process, the bench said it cannot dispense with the normal law of the land and undo the entire jurisprudence.
