ISLAMABAD: Justice Gulzar Ahmad, member of larger bench hearing Panamagate Case, on Monday said the Sharifs may face legal consequences if they failed to present money trail of London apartments.
However, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who heads the larger bench, observed that someone can only be disqualified on the basis of “black letter law” and not on people’s “expectations”.
He also said everyone should wait for the final verdict instead of delivering speeches.
During the hearing, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) lawyer Taufiq Asif contended that the PM’s speech on the floor of the House was in violation of the parliamentary rules.
He added that the case is about the Sharifs, not the government, adding that National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq allowed the PM to deliver a speech after suspending the proceedings of the House.
When Justice Saeed told him to argue the case keeping in view Article 69, Asif contended that the PM’s speech was not within the ambit of Article 69 as it addressed allegations levelled against an individual, the PM, adding that the speech was not part of the assembly’s agenda that day.
Justice Gulzar asked if anyone had objected to the PM’s speech in the National Assembly on that day, to which Taufiq replied that the Opposition walked out of the house in response to the PM’s speech.
The JI counsel requested the bench to press the NA speaker to hand the speech to the court.
Justice Khosa remarked that if none of the parties in the case had any reservations regarding the speech then why the record should be summoned. Taufiq replied that there may have been some errors while translating the speech.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan observed that the PM’s speech had been delivered in Urdu, to which the lawyer argued that the speech is an important part of evidence against Nawaz.
He argued that the PM first said that everything was clear, but he is now asking for immunity. He also said that Nawaz had separated his case from his children’s and even changed his counsel.
He said that no money trail had been provided by the PM’s counsel regarding the London flats.
On this, Justice Khosa remarked that it seems as the JI counsel is trying to buy more time by repeating old arguments. The bench instructed Asif to wrap up his arguments on the next hearing on Tuesday.
