Bulletins 1200 13th June 2017

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will resume its hearing today on an application of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) complaining about hurdles faced by it in carrying out investigation into the Sharif family’s alleged involvement in money laundering, ARY News reported.

A three-judge bench of the apex court headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan – a special bench constituted to oversee the implementation of the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Panama Papers – would take up the matter around 1:00pm.

During previous hearing, the JIT head told the judges that if hurdles prevailed, it would be difficult to conclude the probe within the 60-day time frame. “Some government departments were reluctant to share relevant records with the JIT besides tempering some of the records, ” it added.

The bench had also taken up the petition filed by the premier’s elder son, Hussain Nawaz, seeking the formation of a commission to investigate the leak of photograph depicting him before a grilling session with the JIT.

The JIT in its inquiry report rejected the allegations leveled against the probing team in connection with the leaking of Hussain’s photo. However, it assured that punitive action would be taken against any individual suspected of involvement in the incident.

The JIT further informed the court that it was facing certain issues and problems in its interrogation and it would be difficult to complete the probe within the prescribed time.

Hussain Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Haris argued before the special bench that filming of statements given to JIT was an unconstitutional act. However, the bench ruled that constitution permits video recording of the interrogation session under Section 162.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan, however, assured that the recording could not be used against any witness.