Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Monday rubbished the findings of a joint investigation team (JIT) which probed the offshore business dealings of the Sharif family.

Addressing a press conference, Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal denounced the JIT’s report as ‘Imran Nama’. The minister said the JIT report focused on the Sharif family’s personal businesses rather than mismanagement or corruption while holding public office. “This report is a political statement which reads like an Imran Nama,” he said, adding that the report ‘lacks substance’.

“The JIT’s report is dharna number three and it too is bound to fail like the previous two,” he said, adding that his party’s lawyers were analyzing the report from every angle. “We will unveil the contradictions of this report in front of the Supreme Court,” he said, and added that ‘arch rivals’ of Nawaz Sharif were made part of the JIT.

Barrister Zafarullah said, “This is not JIT’s report … it is PTI’s report. We have decided to challenge it in the Supreme Court.”

He noted that the JIT had failed to record the statement of a key witness. “Four out of the six members of the JIT had no prior experience in handling legal investigations,” he added.

He also resorted to personal attacks against members of the JIT, accusing them of being anti-PML-N. He accused the JIT of witnessing tampering and attempting to twist the investigation to suit its ends. “We hope the Supreme Court bench will send this report into the trash bin … to where it rightfully belongs,” he concluded.

Speaking on the occasion, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the report had no legal standing. “The report has relied heavily on statements given by former interior minister Rehman Malik. I thought JIT’s members were educated people but I was mistaken,” he said. “The story is not over yet. It has just begun. We will fully fight a legal battle.”

Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the party had previously expressed its reservations regarding the attitude of the JIT, saying the government had ‘expected’ the JIT to submit something what it has done. “There are so many contradictions in this report anybody who reads it objectively will understand its true purpose,” he said.

Abbasi said that JIT report was not unexpected. “JIT report is ridiculous and it refreshed the Musharraf era when he made the reference against Nawaz Sharif without any concrete evidence,” he said, adding that though Hassan and Hussain didn’t live in Pakistan, country’s laws were applied on them.

Published in Daily Times, July 11^th , 2017.