Ever since the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) initiated its probe into the money trail of Sharif family’s offshore wealth, sections of media perceived as loyal to the first family have tried their level best to delegitimise the investigation.However, fate took a different course when the Supreme Court of Pakistan(SCP) on Monday issued notices to a media group for falsification and needless interference in legal matters.
The group’s senior reporter, Ahmad Noorani,had publisheda report on the JIT that led to manipulated trading in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) yesterday. The reporter doesn’t realise that this would eventually lead to a bloodbath at the stock exchange.
Not only this, ZafarHijazi – the controversial chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) – is also set to face the tunefor allegedly tampering with records for saving the PM and his family. The offence can likely send him to prison for a long time given thedirections issued to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the matter.
When the SC had issued the April 20 verdict, most analysts predicted that the PM would eventually be given a clean chit. I was among the few who remained firm on the opinion that the opposite would likely happen.
The JIT has revealed that the younger Sharifs gave falsified testimonies despite record being available of their money laundering and ill-gotten wealth whose money-trail hasn’t been established. Although the PML-N insists that the JIT failed to work honestly, the fact remains that the onus to establish money-trail lied with the first family and it has miserably failed to do so.
Moreover, the JIT has also revealedanother offshore company of the elder Sharif held through Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) process. This company was unrelated to Panama Papers leaks and was kept hidden from all official records. Thus, the entire Sharif family has been found guilty of concealing its assets, and, on moral grounds, the time has come for the PM to resign and face the court.Meanwhile, the ruling party’s attitude remains childish and by waging war on the JIT it may be digging its own grave in the long-run.The final judgment of the case is yet to come but one thing is for sure, the government has truly lost its credibility and needs to look towards an in-house change for the rest of its tenure.
The writer is Tactical Talk Network’s special correspondent and geopolitical analyst for Business Plus.
Published in Daily Times, July 11th , 2017.
