ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The federal government has rejected the report submitted by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in the Supreme Court of Pakistan in Panama Papers Case, terming it a piece of trash.
While addressing a Press Conference at Press Information Department (PID) in Islamabad, the Federal Minister for Planning Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government will challenge the JIT report in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, saying it is a ‘Imran Naama’.
The minister said that PML-N has already expressed its reservations about working of the JIT, and said that its report lacked authenticity and credibility.
The federal minister said that our legal team is reviewing the report and will submit its arguments in the apex court.
Ahsan Iqbal said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has no connection with any of the asset. He said that the prime minister has not been accused of misusing public funds or tax evasion.
The minister said that the JIT report was a ‘Sit-in No 3’ and the PML-N government would fight it with full force.
“Our opponents want to create hurdles in the way of progress,” he said.
The minister said that we won’t accept any Minus-One formula, and added that whenever Minus-One formula was applied, it became Plus-One formula.
Talking to the media, Barrister Zafar Ullah said that four out of six members of JIT were not well-versed with the investigation procedure. He said that some of the JIT members were biased, and they used to threaten witnesses.
Barrister Zafar Ullah said that the JIT also did not record the evidence of a crucial witness – Qatari Prince – and said that they hope that the Supreme Court would discard the JIT report.
The Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif said that JIT report has no legal value. “We will demolish all of the allegations imposed by the JIT,” he said.
Khawaja Asif said that we have confidence in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and expressed hope that the apex court would treat us according to law.
Earlier in its final report submitted to the three-member Special Bench of the Supreme Court, the JIT said that all respondents including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Hussain Nawaz, Hassan Nawaz and Maryam Nawaz failed to produce information, confirming known sources of income and failed to justify assets and means of income.
The JIT recommended to file references against them under Section 9 of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordinance 1999.
