LAHORE: A disappointed Dr Tahirul Qadri said on Tuesday one should now only pray for the success of Panama probe because, for all practical purposes, it has been lost in the mist of commission formation and proceedings.

In a statement after the PTI decided against its planned ‘lockdown’ of Islamabad following a Supreme Court decision to constitute a commission for probing Panama Leaks, Qadri said the issue was now lost.

The Supreme Court chief justice is retiring this month and the new chief would take over. Will he also prioritise the issue with the same urgency? Will the proposed commission start with the family of the prime minister, as the PTI along with other parties has been demanding?

He said irony is that the entire record of Panama Leaks is with Nawaz Sharif, Ishaq Dar, Chaudhry Nisar and Khwaja Asif and the institutions that work under their command. Will they provide the record and information that is against them?

He insisted that Imran Khan did not consult him before taking the decision of calling off the protest and he could not offer any consultation now.

“This is PTI’s decision and only it can explain it. But the Panama Leaks issue will now linger on, perhaps indefinitely,” he added.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2016