What next after JIT submits report to SC

Islamabad

A question often being mentioned in different circles and at various forums is whether the present three-member special implementation bench, the previous five-judge panel or another set of Supreme Court judges will hand down a conclusive judgment on the final report of the Panama Joint Investigation Report (JIT).

One assertion is that Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan-led bench will deal with the JIT findings. Another opinion is that the JIT report will be put before the earlier Justice Asif Saeed Khosa-chaired five-member panel that had delivered a majority, three to two, verdict in the Panama case while yet another view is that some other justices will adjudicate upon it.

As the situation stands today, it is the three-judge bench which will be seized with the matter. However, it will crystallize after the JIT will file with this panel its finished product on July 10 or after a few days as the proceedings on it will proceed further. 

There is a consensus that Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar has the discretion to constitute benches as he had also formed the previous five-member penal and the instant three-judge group to hear the Panama case and to subsequently oversee the implementation of its judgment.

However, the chief justice will act only if an application will be submitted to him by the affected party, the Sharif family, seeking formation of a new bench or full court. Even the three-member bench may also request the chief justice to form a new larger panel.

The divergence of opinion is also reflected in the views of the leading legal attorneys The News approached for their views.

Prominent lawyer Barrister Omar Sajjad said that on the receipt of the JIT determinations the three-justice bench can decide to refer the case to the chief justice for constitution of another panel.

He said it would also depend on what the JIT would present. On the basis of its report, the bench, he stated, may send the case to an accountability court or some other judicial forum in view of the nature of allegation that the JIT would have talked about in its findings. Or this panel may forward the case to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for further investigation because the JIT may have been constrained by time to do an in-depth inquiry.

Omar Sajjad said the chief justice will have to take a decision on the petition of any party that requests a new bench. The affected party may also express no-confidence in one or more judges, stressing that they should recuse themselves from hearing the case for different reasons. Justice Saqib Nisar has the powers and prerogative to form benches.

However, he also said that the present bench was fully empowered to take a decision on the JIT findings. But it may also refer the JIT report to the chief justice for establishment of a larger bench, he added.

The lawyer said that it was for the top judge to send the case to the previous five-member bench or form a new one, including or excluding Justice Khosa, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, who have been part of the two panels.

However, noted lawyer Azhar Siddique said that only the three-justice bench and no other panel of judges has the authority to adjudicate upon the JIT findings because the five judges had requested the chief justice to form a special bench for implementation of the judgment. “Question doesn’t arise that another bench will take up this case after the receipt of the JIT findings. The present bench has the powers to even disqualify the prime minister as member of the National Assembly or take any other decision on the basis of the JIT report,” he said adding that it was the discretion of the chief justice to form benches.

“We would request the Hon’ble Chief Justice to constitute a Special Bench to ensure implementation of this judgment so that the investigation into the allegations may not be left in a blind alley,” the last paragraph of the majority judgment authored by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan said.

It is not known whether or not the Sharif family has any plan to move an application to the chief justice petitioning him to constitute a new bench or full court. However, what is publicly known is that some federal ministers and leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have repeatedly taken exception to certain judicial proceedings.

At one point, the federal government spokesman had denounced a judge’s statement likening the attorney general to a representative of the Sicilian mafia, saying that the comments were “against the code of conduct” of the apex court. “The comments made by the judge damaged Pakistan’s reputation and integrity on an international forum,” he said.

“Congratulations Mr Attorney General: it seems that your government has joined the Sicilian Mafia,” Justice Sheikh Azmat had quipped.

During the opening of a case against PML-N Senator Nehal Hashmi regarding his outburst against the judiciary, the three-justice bench had a particularly fiery exchange with the attorney general.

Besides, the PML-N leaders have also consistently taken on the JIT in harsh words, dubbing some of its members as biased and partisan and demanded their detachment from the probe body. However, the JIT as formed by the three-member bench has continued its job unabated.

Article source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/213911-What-next-after-JIT-submits-report-to-SC