Daily Times

LAHORE: Criticising the government for not submitting complete documents in the Supreme Court (SC) with regard to Panamagate inquiry, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Senator Sirajul Haq on Monday said that the faces of rulers had turned pale and words were not assisting them.

“The government is using dilatory tactics, and has prolonged the Panama leaks case by not filing documents in the SC. The government should present all documents in the court as per the court’s orders,” he said while talking to reporters.

He went on to say that the people wanted the petitioners to win this legal fight against corruption. “It is the voice of their hearts that corrupt elements be brought to justice,” he added.

Siraj said that an effective mechanism was required to be put in place for weeding out corruption from the country. “We have moved the court for this purpose. The [state] institutions have been paralysed due to corruption. This is the reason that no institution has taken any action on Panama Papers matter despite a lapse of eight months,” he observed. He observed that Pakistan had earned a bad name in the comity of nations due to corruption. “The government wasted eight months of the nation.”

Without naming anyone, he said that a section of society had opposed the accountability process and was sabotaging the efforts in that direction. “This class is all-out to quell the voices calling for accountability of all.”

He underscored that the former National Accountability Bureau (NAB) director general had said that corruption of Rs 12 billion is being committed in Pakistan every day. “Why the NAB has not taken action against it? The bureau’s duty is not limited to providing information about corruption, but also take action against corruption and the corrupt elements,” he added.