IB warned by SC against harassing members of Panamagate JIT
Serious questions have been raised over the conduct of Intelligence Bureau (IB) by the Supreme Court (SC). The matter of IB’s conduct has been raised in concern with the ongoing Panamagate case probe by a joint investigation team (JIT) into the Sharif family’s offshore wealth.
A three judge implementation bench of the apex court, which was headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan has warned the civilian intelligence agency against harassing the JIT members. The JIT has been investigating the allegations of corruption against the ruling family in line with the top court’s historic 20th April 2017, verdict in the Panama Papers case.
Justice Ijazul Ahsen remarked “Harassment of JIT members must be stopped forthwith, otherwise we will have to pass unpleasant orders.” Furthermore the judge had asked Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Ashtar Ausaf Ali to tell government officials to “remain in limits.”
Justice Azmad Saeed Sheikh who was part of the bench asked the AGP to tell the IB officials to immediately stop harassing members of the probe body. “Advise your government not to create obstructions in the operation of the JIT and don’t enforce us to pass any order” he added that “For god’s sake, don’t use IB in this matter.”
Furthermore the judge asked that whether the agency was working for private individuals or the state of Pakistan. The judge observed that the IB had committed a crime by passing on the information of JIT members to a private person (Hussain Nawaz).
The bench also sought legal assistance from the AGP regarding IB’s role in the Panamagate proceedings. During the hearing the judge Justice Khan asked the AGP to inform the court what should be done about the agency’s role in the case.
Furthermore the top court bench also directed the head of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to inquire the allegations of forgery by Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in the records of companies owned by the Sharifs.
Last week the IB chief Aftab Sultan had confirmed that the information on JIT members had been gathered because of the high profile nature of the Panama Papers case. Mr Sultan in a two paged letter which was submitted to the top court on 17th June 2017, said that how the low downs were leaked was a matter of political concern, he added that the issue was already under investigation. Earlier in its response the IB had denied the allegations of hacking the account of JIT member Bilal Rasoon and his family.
The hearing of case has been adjourned till Tuesday, 20th June 2017.
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