Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The joint investigation team (JIT) will submit its third and second-last progress report to the Supreme Court today.

The JIT will submit its report to the court’s special bench formed to oversee the verdict’s implementation.

Earlier on June 7, the JIT had submitted its midterm report before the special bench which was headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh.

The bench was satisfied with the JIT’s progress in the probe, and reiterated that the investigation has to be completed within the stipulated 60-day period.

The case was marred in further controversies after the prime minister’s (PM) son, Hussain Nawaz, accused the JIT of deliberately leaking his interrogation picture, and the JIT submitted a report in the court accusing several official quarters, including the PM House, of impeding the probe.

The special bench dismissed Hussain’s petition asking for an end to the recording of the JIT’s sessions on Tuesday The judges observed that the videos will not be submitted in court for evidence but will be used to maintain the accuracy of the sessions’ transcripts.

During the same hearing, the judges gave the attorney general more time to submit the government’s response to the JIT’s accusations of creating hurdles in its probe.

JIT summoned PM Nawaz Sharif and his brother and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif since the last progress report, Meanwhile, Hussain has been summoned five times by the team while his younger brother, Hassan Nawaz, has appeared twice.

Former interior minister Senator Rehman Malik was also summoned by JIT on June 23 and the PM’s son-in-law MNA Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar on June 24.

On May 22, the JIT had submitted its first progress report, at which the bench had also expressed its satisfaction and allowed the investigators to continue their work.

A request by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to make the report public was rejected by the court, which observed that it will do so when it deems necessary.