Panamagate case: PTI’s lead counsel to conclude arguments today
UNCATEGORIZED12 MINS AGO BY WEB DESK
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lead counsel Naeem Bukhari will be making his final submissions Monday (today) before the ruling family’s new legal team starts counter-arguments.
Realising implications of the case, the Sharifs have replaced their counsels and engaged three of Pakistan’s top lawyers to rebut PTI’s allegations and satisfy the judges on the money trail of their contentious London flats. Senior lawyers Makhdoom Ali Khan, Shahid Hamid and Salman Akram Raja will defend the Sharifs.
PTI’s legal team, on the other hand, has shrunk as the case has progressed. Senior lawyers Hamid Khan and Ahmad Awais have already been disassociated from the case due to criticism on their performance within the party. Likewise, Babar Awan has also been not seen in the courtroom since the new larger bench started hearing and is not attending meetings of the party’s legal team either.
Lawyers, who have heard Bukhari’s arguments of the last three days’ proceedings, believe that the PTI lead counsel is unable to cite judgments on the issues of ‘dependency’ and ‘benami’. A segment of the party is also concerned about Bukhari’s performance and some members have advised the PTI leadership to instruct the lawyer to give only brief submissions, putting the ball in the Sharif legal team’s court to prove the ruling family’s innocence.
Bukhari is expected to conclude his arguments today, allowing the Sharifs’ lawyers to begin their arguments. Salman Akram Raja will argue on behalf of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s son Hussain Nawaz. Makhdoom Ali Khan will argue on behalf of the premier while Shahid Hamid will submit a written reply on behalf of the prime minister’s daughter Maryam Nawaz.
Legal experts said the matter needs further probing before any final judgment is made. They said this week will be crucial for the fate of the case. It may be difficult for the Supreme Court to reject the Panamagate petitions but the prime minister’s disqualification has so far appeared impossible.
Read more: Who is paying for the lawyers?
-Panama decision to decide fate of country: Imran-
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday claimed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had purchased Mayfair flats in Maryam Nawaz’s name using funds that were pocketed through corruption.
Addressing a rally in Bahawalpur, Imran said the Supreme Court’s decision on Panama Leaks case would change future of Pakistan. “If we get justice in the Panama case against Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan will be a changed country,” he said. The PTI chairman said Nawaz has become an expert in corruption in the past 30 years.
He said that the PTI sit-ins had spread awareness among the masses about the corruption of their rulers. Nawaz stole money and took it out of the country. He said the storm was in the making which would not leave the prime minister and his accomplice JUI Chief Fazlur Rehman, who Imran said, was playing a role of the PM’s agent.
“Every Pakistani is under a debt of Rs 0.12 million, who once used to be under a debt of Rs 35000,” he said adding, “What will be spent on education when treasury has run out of money?”
Chaos ensued at the rally, when fans and supporters ran amok, breaking the boundaries in an attempt to reach the stage. Numerous people are rumoured to be injured, according to sources. A huge crowd of devotees was gathered at the location for the rally.
Speaking on the occasion, Awami Muslim League Chief Sheikh Rasheed said that there would be another sit-in against ‘corrupt’ government under the leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan and asserted that a political showdown would happen in Supreme Court (SC) over Panama Leaks.
The AML chief addressed a rally of PTI in Bahawalpur besides Secretary General of PTI, Jahangir Tareen, Vice-Chairman of PTI, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Chairman of PTI Imran Khan.
Rasheed said that Panama Leaks case would lead leaders of the country to their ‘end’. He branded himself as a ‘suicide politician’ claiming that he took issues concerning the nation seriously and would go to any length to secure its interest. Rasheed alleged the leaders belonging to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were destroying bureaucracy.
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/201...tis-lead-counsel-to-conclude-arguments-today/
