Panamagate: Pakistan SC Orders JIT Probe Of Sharif Family, Says Evidence Insufficient For PM’s Removal

Announcing the much-awaited Panamagate case verdict, the Pakistan Supreme Court today neither gave a clean chit nor a disqualification to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as the apex court ordered the formation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe how money was transferred to Qatar.

The court has ordered the JIT to present its report every two weeks before the five-judge bench, Dawn has reported. The Supreme Court also ordered Sharif and his sons Hasan and Hussein to appear before the JIT.

The judgement was announced by a five-member larger bench, headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa on a slew of petitions seeking disqualification of Sharif in the wake of explosive disclosures of the Panama Papers, reports The Express Tribune.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League, which is headed by Sharif, has called the Supreme Court verdict a victory for the party.  The Sharif family was seen celebrating post the verdict - which if would have been extreme would have resulted in ouster of the Prime Minister - as the premier's daughter Maryam Nawaz, tweeted a photo of Sharif, his family and party leaders celebrating.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq and Awami Muslim League head Sheikh Rashid Ahmed had filed the petition against Sharif for making alleged misstatements in his speech in the National Assembly and in his address to the nation last year, regarding investments in offshore companies that led to the purchase of four upscale flats in London.

The bench had reserved its verdict on 23 February and had said that it will review all angles of the case in detail and then announce a verdict.

With inputs from ANI