ISLAMABAD: A five-member bench of the Supreme Court Wednesday adjourned the hearing of four identical petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and others seeking investigation into the Panama Papers till December 06 and directed the PTI counsel Naeem Bukhari to conclude his arguments on next date of hearing.
The bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Amir Hani Muslim, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijaz ul Hassan heard the case.
Tariq Asad advocate, one of the petitioners requested the court to issue appropriate orders to stop media commenting on the case. He said that talk shows/comments on media could affect the case.
Referring talk shows, Tariq Asad said, “Much has been said about Hamid Khan, counsel of PTI on media.” The Chief Justice observed that Hamid Khan was a senior and extremely capable lawyer who had also written books on law. Talk shows could not lessen Hamid Khan’s stature, the chief justice remarked.
The Chief Justice also asked the media to act responsibly about such sensitive issues.
The counsel of Jamaat-e-Islami Asad Manzoor Butt requested the court to ask all the parties of the case to conclude their arguments at the earliest to pave the way for the formation of inquiry commission to probe the case.
Before starting his arguments, Naeem Bukhari expressed complete confidence over the court and also apologized for his harsh words during the last hearing of the case.
“I am not appearing before the court to talk about the politics”, Bukhari said.
He also pointed out some contradictions of the respondents in speeches and replies.
Bukhari also argued that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and other institutions did not take up the matter failed to perform their duties.
The counsel of PTI pleaded the court to take action against Chairman NAB under Article 209 of the constitution.
Naeem Bukhari said that as per prime minister all the documents are available. Over this Justice Azmat Saeed remarked that documents may have been available everywhere but not in the court.
Justice Azmat asked some questions to the counsel of PTI saying, “Whether whatever is published in newspapers should be accepted. Should we also accept what has been published about your client in English newspapers for the last thirty years. Why are you mixing impurities in gold and why do you bring news clippigs on every hearing.”
Later, the court directed the PTI counsel to conclude his arguments on next hearing fixed December 6, 2016. —APP
