ISLAMABAD
\nThe Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday completed hearing the Panama Leaks case and reserved its verdict, which it maintained will be announced at a later date.
\nA five-member bench led by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa remarked that it will review all angles of the case in detail and then announce a verdict. Other judges in the bench include Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan.
\nJustice Asif Saeed Khosa observed that 26,000 pages were submitted in the Panamagate case and the judges will read \u201ceach word\u201d of it. He observed that it was not a case wherein a short order could be passed.
\n\u201cThe court will decide the case only after considering the material submitted in the court and will announce its verdict in accordance with the law and Constitution,\u201d Justice Khosa remarked.
\nEarlier, when the hearing of the case resumed, the top court questioned the federal government\u2019s recent LNG deal with Qatar.
\nIn response to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)\u2019s counsel Naeem Bukhari\u2019s plea that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led government had awarded a 20-year contract for import of LNG with Qatar to reward a prince, who had come to the rescue of the ruling Sharif family in the Panama Papers scandal, Justice Gulzar Ahmad observed that if the government signed the deal to bestow favours to Qataris then it may be conflict of interest.
\nThe apex court\u2019s five-judge larger bench asked the PTI counsel to inform the court about the status of the LNG contract. To this, Bukhari said the matter had been challenged before the Sindh High Court.
\nDuring the proceedings, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan observed that it was yet to be established that the Sharif family\u2019s four apartments in London\u2019s Park Lane neighbourhood were purchased in 1993. The judge also questioned the authenticity of the PTI documents submitted in the court to establish the petitioner\u2019s claims regarding the London properties.
\n\u201cThe court cannot give a judgment on the basis of disputed material,\u201d he remarked. \u201cAre we supposed to dispose the normal law of land and entertain the documents which have not come through proper custody?\u201d
\nHowever, Justice Khosa observed: \u201cIf we do not entertain PTI documents then Sharif family\u2019s documents will also not be accepted on the same basis.\u201d He remarked that if the court applied the same formula then 99 per cent of the documents pertaining to the case will have to be \u201cthrown away\u201d.
\nJustice Khosa also observed that it was unfortunate that a trend had developed in the society that \u201cjustice is whatever has been done in our favour\u201d. \u201cIf court issues a verdict against anyone then it is deemed that the judge has been bribed,\u201d he said.
\nChief of Awami Muslim League (AML) Sheikh Rasheed said that Sharif family had tried to escape the Panama Leaks case but the court has dismissed National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman\u2019s statement.
\nAttorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali in his submissions before the court said that any conclusive judgment cannot be given in the case until the allegations hurled by the petitioners are not probed and verified.
\nMeanwhile all eyes are on the verdict of the case which took more than 126 days of the Supreme Court. The Panama case changed the political landscape of the country, which was bone of contention between two political groups; the first comprising of all of the political opposition including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the second belonging to supporters of the ruling party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday completed hearing the Panama Leaks case and reserved its verdict, which it maintained will be announced at a later date. A five-member bench led by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa remarked that it will review all angles of the case in detail and then announce a verdict. Other judges […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2671,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n