WITH the JIT required to submit its report to the Supreme Court today in the Panama Papers case, the political uncertainty that has hung over the country for more than a year is a step closer to closure.

The unprecedented probe of a sitting prime minister on alleged corruption charges is a momentous event, and if procedurally the JIT or the court need further time to sift through the evidence they have collected and that has been presented to them, it would be in the interests of justice for that to be allowed. But if a report is submitted today on the basis of which the court can hand down a final judgement, the court will be at a historic political juncture.

For justice to be served and political stability to be salvaged, at least three things must occur.

First, the JIT must present a report that scrupulously adheres to the questions that were put to it by the court, and its conclusions must be legally sound. The JIT has been mired in controversy and now is the time for its members to demonstrate that not only do they have a firm grasp of the law, but that they recognise the extraordinary responsibility on their shoulders. Reasonable minds ought to be able to conclude that a fair set of assessments have been made by the JIT.

Second, the court must hand down a judgement that will stand the test of time and is rooted in judicial precedent, practice and norms. Two justices in the original five-member bench have already declared that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is unfit to hold office; if any of the undecided justices also reach that conclusion, they must do so in a manner that can lay down a judicial precedent that can be emulated later. Anything short of that and the political ramifications of an adverse decision against Mr Sharif will overshadow the need for systemic accountability.

Third, the political parties central to this dispute, the PML-N and PTI, must carefully consider their responses to the verdict. A decision against Mr Sharif will not automatically be a decision against democracy, something the PML-N must recognise. Neither must a decision in his favour be interpreted by the PTI as the triumph of a dysfunctional, quasi-democratic system.

The judgement must be assessed on its merits, but for the political parties with most at stake it must also be assessed in light of the democratic project. Each time the PML-N and PTI have clashed politically, the fear has been the same: more space for anti-democratic forces.

The PML-N, PTI and indeed all mainstream political parties have a responsibility to protect the democratic order. The path to the next general election must not be undone.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2017