ISLAMABAD: A larger bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali resumed hearing of the Panama Leaks case on Tuesday.
During proceedings, Justice Azmat Saeed said documents submitted by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had no relation with the case. “The documents also include newspaper clippings. The petitioner himself has buried the truth,†Justice Azmat remarked.
The court maintained that one side had submitted 700 pages while the other had submitted 1600 pages. “We are not a computer that we scan the documents in a minute,” Justice Azmat Saeed said.
“Why are you wasting the court’s time with tales from the Arabian Nights? Can we announce death sentence over a newspaper story which says Allah Ditta killed Allah Rakha?” he asked PTI’s lawyer Hamid Khan.
The apex court maintained that it will not investigate corruption. “If someone has done corruption the lower courts can take care of it.”
Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali also expressed displeasure over the documents submitted by PTI which consisted of 686 pages.
Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali said that he wanted to keep focus on the London flats. He said that the parties had submitted too many documents in the court. “We wanted to give the verdict in two or three days. But we have received too many documents.”
He added that it was difficult to differentiate between real and fake documents. “In this situation we might not be able to give a verdict in six months.
The hearing was adjourned till November 17.
Advocate Akram Sheikh representing the prime minister’s children said that in January 1972 the six units owned by the Prime Minister were taken control of by the government. Of them six units were in West Pakistan while one was in East Pakistan. He said that the prime minister went to Dubai and without any investment from Pakistan formed a steel mill. “The capital came from Sheikh Rashid Al-Maktoum. 75 percent shares of the company went to Al-Hali group. In 1980 the Prime Minister sold 20 percent shares.”
Akram Sheikh maintained that no money went out from Pakistan.
The court remarked that his statement was different from what the Prime Minister had given in the parliament. Justice Khosa said that the prime minister had said that he sold a mill in Dubai to build a mill in Azizya.
To this Sheikh said that he was representing the prime minister’s children and not the prime minister. “You can ask this question from Salman Butt.”
He said that he is also submitting an additional statement by Maryam Nawaz for the use of court which include documents by Prince of Qatar Hammad bin Jasim.
The letter by the prince stated that Mian Sharif went into business with the Al-Thani family in 1980 which lasted till 2006. The flats were taken by Hussain Nawaz as a business settlement from the Al-Thani family.