So finally, it seems that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has escaped immediate disqualification. But he has been left bruised, hurt and crushed by the verdict inked by the five-member bench led by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa. The first page of the detailed judgment says it all.
“The popular 1969 novel ‘The Godfather’ by Mario Puzo recounted the violent tale of a mafia family, and the epigraph selected by the author was fascinating: ‘Behind every great fortune there is a crime– Balzac’,” writes Justice Khosa, to narrate the success of the ruling family.
With the judgment out now, the Panamagate case has graduated from civil petition to a criminal investigation as from now on, the prime minister and his dependents will now be grilled by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT).
Though the Sharif family, following the court verdict, was seen enjoying sweets – perhaps at the cost of taxpayers’ money – but this would be the sourest sweets the prime minister would have swallowed ever. It seems the sweets were another ploy to hoodwink the public at large of the PM Sharif’s defeat in the court of law.
The detailed judgment reveals that the five-member bench of the apex court has smartly weaved the web around Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his close family members, paralysing them form avoiding the process of law.
An interesting fact being overlooked by the media and legal fraternity is that the court verdict has made it compulsory for all the dependents of PM to be answerable to the JIT which is to be formed within seven days of the judgment.
So it means that Maryam Nawaz, the potential political heir to Nawaz Sharif, would also have to go through the grind. This would be for the first time in the country’s history that a JIT would question premier and other members of the ruling family.
“The JIT shall investigate the case and collect evidence, if any, showing that respondent No 1 (Nawaz Sharif) or any of his dependents or benamidars owns, possesses or has acquired assets or any interests therein disproportionate to his known means of income,” reads the judgment.
The JIT shall submit its periodical reports every two weeks before the bench of this court constituted in this behalf and the JIT shall complete the investigation and submit its final report before the bench within 60 days.
“We would request the chief justice to constitute a special bench to ensure the implementation of this judgment so that the investigation into the allegations may not be left in a blind alley,” says the verdict.
While politicians and analysts express fears and doubts that the prime minister would manage the JIT, it would be a challenge for the apex court to ensure that bureaucrats function independently.
One must not forget how former Prime Ministers Yousaf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf had dragged their feet on the apex court order for writing to Swiss authorities about $ 60 million in accounts of former President Asif Zardari. Despite all clamour and power of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, the court could not get its judgment implemented. How the court would be able to get its judgment implemented now – it remains a challenge for the court now.