Chief Justice of Pakistan refuses to form commission under given TORs

The Chief Justice (CJ) of Pakistan, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali has out rightly refused to form a judicial commission to investigate the Panama Leaks issue under the Terms of Reference (TOR) given by the government.

In a letter written by the CJ, he responded to the federal government’s request for a probe, by saying that the given TORs are very open-ended and are not enough for a useful investigation.

He further added that the formation of a commission under the Pakistan Commission of Inquiry Act, 1956 would only ‘result in the constitution of a toothless commission, which will serve no useful purpose, except giving bad name to it”.

Justice Jamali further pointed out that the Terms of Reference “are so wide and open ended that, prima facie, it may take years together for the commission to conclude its proceedings”.

“Therefore, before forming any opinion as to the formation of requisite commission of inquiry or otherwise, it is necessary to have the list of all individuals, families, groups, companies, etc, with their total number, along with some relevant particulars, against whom purported inquiry proceedings are to be held,” wrote the chief justice in his reply.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came under fire when the Panama Leaks identified his children as the owners of undeclared offshore companies. The prime minister then wrote a letter to the chief justice seeking the formation of the judicial commission to probe the issue.

The Terms of Reference for the probe were decided by the current government but they were rejected by the opposition and now by the chief justice as well.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=52993

Posted by fatimaarshad on May 13 2016. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.