ISLAMABAD: The joint investigation team (JIT) filed another complaint before the Supreme Court on Thursday, this time against the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) for not cooperating with the investigation by withholding the wealth tax and income tax returns of certain individuals.

After going through the two voluminous reports, furnished by JIT head Wajid Zia in sealed envelopes, the three-judge Supreme Court implementation bench — headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan — expressed their shock over the allegation that FBR was hampering the probe into the Panama Papers case.

Justice Khan also asked Mr Zia about the expediency in withholding the name of the officer responsible for leaking Hussain Nawaz’ photo on social media, when the man had already been identified and was facing disciplinary action in his parent department.

AG says FIA probe into allegations against SECP chairman ‘won’t take long’

The JIT head explained that the name was not disclosed for security reasons, but Justice Khan then asked Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali to submit the federal government’s stance in the matter — whether it had any qualms about the officer’s name being revealed.

The court ordered the JIT to submit their final report regarding their investigations into money laundering allegations against the Sharifs on July 10.

It also asked JIT to file an application in case they faced any problems again, while Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed cautioned the AG that since the JIT was in the final stages of its probe and the court’s patience was running out, no government department should drag their feet.

The JIT had earlier blamed five government institutions — the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), FBR, Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the law ministry — for creating impediments in the collection of evidence in the Panama Papers leaks probe.

In its earlier explanation filed before the apex court, the FBR rejected the allegation that it provided piecemeal, incomplete and selective records to frustrate the investigation, saying that whatever documents were asked for had been filed within a week.

In response to a query, Mr Zia told the apex court that though the SECP had provided some documents, the FBR had not.

The documents regarding those who were at the helm of affairs at the relevant times, which the JIT was expecting, had not been furnished by the FBR, Mr Zia deplored.

He said investigators had asked the board three times to provide the same, but they had simply replied that the record was “not available”.

Mr Zia explained that the JIT had asked the FBR to clarify what they meant by “not available”, but the board had yet to furnish a proper reply.

At this, Justice Khan asked the JIT leader why he did not bring this to the court’s notice earlier. “This is not acceptable,” Justice Saeed exclaimed, asking what had happened to these documents — were they stolen, lost or still hidden somewhere?

“Let’s find out,” replied the AG, suggesting that his office would try to procure the relevant documents from the FBR if the JIT provided him a list of what they wanted.

But Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan lamented how the court always had to engage the AG office each time a government department did not cooperate with the JIT.

“This state of affairs is disturbing,” Justice Ahsan observed, adding that such a situation should not have arisen when all institutions were bound under the Constitution to comply with the orders of the Supreme Court.

“We can enforce our orders,” Justice Saeed observed, but Justice Khan directed Mr Zia to give a list of the required documents to the AG.

SECP inquiry

When Justice Khan asked the AG whether the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was conducting any inquiry against SECP chairman Zafar Hijazi on allegations of tampering with the documents, the AG explained that a probe had been initiated and would not take long.

“The (FIA) are looking into different ledgers and books etc,” the AG said, adding that whenever the JIT had approached his office, he had always cooperated with them.

“We appreciate your assistance, but we are shocked to know that the FBR is not cooperating,” Justice Khan deplored.

The AG, however, said that whatever documents were available would be provided, adding that some records were not kept after a certain period of time.

Was there any harm in issuing notices to the FBR, the AG asked, prompting Justice Ahsan to ask whether the court should summon FBR Chairman Mohammad Irshad.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court also mentioned that though it had dismissed Hussain Nawaz’ plea to halt video recordings of JIT interrogations, another request to appoint a commission to probe the leak of his picture, was still pending.

Following proceedings, PML-N and PTI leaders clashed once again over who would occupy the media dais outside the court.

When State Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb was speaking to media persons, PTI leader Uzma Kardar reached the dais and loudly exclaimed that she (Ms Aurangzeb) had spoken for long enough and that it was her turn.

Speaking to reporters later, Ms Aurangzeb said that PTI members habitually tried to misbehave with PML-N leaders.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2017