SC takes up JIT petition on threats today

ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court implementation bench will take up today a petition moved by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) about the “hurdles” being faced by the probe body in the high-profile Panama Papers case.

The bench headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and comprising Justices Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Ijazul Ahsan will hear the petition filed by JIT head and Additional Director General of Federal Investigation Agency Wajid Zia.

The petition was filed by the JIT head on June 10 after the apex court had directed him to file a separate petition after Zia mentioned about them while submitting a second fortnightly progress report about the probe into the Panama Papers case involving the prime minister and his family.

Besides this, the bench will also take up the reply of the JIT on a petition filed by prime minister’s elder son Hussain Nawaz who had petitioned the Supreme Court against the JIT after a picture of him during the interrogation was leaked to the media. He has pleaded the court to bar the JIT from recording the proceedings of the probe.

Sources claimed that the JIT in its petition has maintained that its members were facing criticism, external pressure and even have security concerns.

According to the sources, the petition was prepared by Wajid Zia and National Accountability Bureau officer Irfan Naeem Mangi, who is also a member of the probe team.

The JIT was formed on May 6 in light of the Supreme Court’s April 20 verdict in the Panama Papers case. The JIT has 60 days to complete its investigation into the prime minister’s family’s financial dealings abroad.

Source: The Nation