It is for the court, not the government, to determine criminality
The charges that have been leveled against former President Asif Zardari and his financial partners are highly serious. Zardari maintains that the allegations are no more than a smear campaign aimed at getting the 18th amendment revoked by putting pressure on the PPP leadership. The SC has now handed over the investigation to NAB for completion within two months. In case the Bureau decides to file a reference, Zardari will have to substantiate his case in the court. One expects that whosever is charged by the NAB will be provided full opportunity to defend themselves while the trial will be fair and transparent .
What remains questionable is the way the JIT report was used for political propaganda. Before it was officially handed over to the Supreme Court, there were selective leaks of the contents of the report in sections of the media. This raised questions about the JIT’s impartiality. The leaks allowed PTI ministers and party leaders to hold a media trial of the PPP leadership. The PTI government hastily put the names of Zardari, Bilawal, Faryal Talpur, Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah and Zardari’s counsel Farooq Naek on the ECL. This was followed by vociferous demands by PTI Sindh lawmakers for the resignation of the Sindh chief minister. The federal information minister was assigned the task to visit Sindh to prepare ground for a no confidence move against Murad Al Shah. The visit had to be canceled after the apex court clarified that the JIT account was just a report which the SC had yet to review while the court also told the government to revise the list of those put on the ECL.
The apex court has now ordered the removal of the names of Bilawal and Murad Ali Shah both from the JIT report and the ECL. Meanwhile the SECP has claimed that the JIT had not approached it for comment or given it an opportunity to explain the correct legal position on vital matters related to acquisition of shares in certain banks. This raises questions about the fairness of the probe by JIT. One hopes the NAB will take into account the SECP’s views also.