Pakistan SC may summon PM Nawaz Shairf in Panamagate

Islamabad: The Pakistan Supreme Court on Tuesday said it may summon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to record his statement in the ongoing Panamagate case trial.

The remarks were made by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who is heading a five-judge larger bench of the apex court to hear a slew of petitions against the Sharif family over corruption, in response to a plea by Jamaat-e-Islami counsel Advocate Taufiq Asif.

Asif requested the apex court to summon the Prime Minister and record his statement regarding the ownership of luxury apartments in an upscale London neighbourhood.

Justice Khosa told the JI counsel that the court will first hear the stance of the counsels of PM Sharif's children and if there was anything required, then the Prime Minister may be summoned, Geo TV reported. The judge, however, clarified that such a move will only be taken after hearing the arguments of the counsels.

Meanwhile, Justice Gulzar Ahmed observed that the apex court declared in the Khewra Mines case that it can record evidence under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.

Concluding his arguments, the JI counsel said Sharif had appeared in the top court several times in different matters, therefore, the court should summon him in this matter as well. "Everyone's has doubts regarding the money trail of London flats given by the Sharif family," he argued.

In her reply submitted in SC, Prime Minister's daughter Maryam Nawaz also rejected the correspondence between Financial Investigation Agency of the British Virgin Islands and Mossack Fonseca.

Maryam's response came a day after German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung - the original source of the Panama Papers leaks -, reaffirmed that the Prime Minister's daughter was connected with Minerva Financial Services Ltd, the company that owns the Park Lane flats in London.

The family of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was named in the Panama Papers, one of the biggest leaks in history. The leak, comprising 11.5 million documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, shows how some of the world's most powerful people have secreted away their money in offshore jurisdictions.