Islamabad (December 13, 2018): The Supreme Court has formed a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe allegations of the illegal allotment of Waqf property attached to a Pakpattan shrine against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
According to sources, Director General (DG) National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) Khaliq Dad Lak will head the JIT and all the team members were directed to appear before the court on December 27 with investigation reports.
A three-judge bench headed CJP Mian Saqib Nisar heard the Pakpattan land allotment case. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer Barrister Zafar Ullah appeared before the court on his behalf.
During the hearing, the chief justice remarked, “From the documents it is clear that Nawaz as Punjab chief minister transferred the Auqaf Department’s land to a private owner. Nawaz Sharif says he has no memory regarding this.”
Justice Nisar then asked Nawaz’s lawyer, Barrister Zafarullah, who should they get the case investigated by to which he said, “You can ask anyone to probe it.”
“Nawaz says he did not de-notify the land. Do you know what the consequences will be if this is proven wrong,” Justice Nisar further said.
Earlier on December 04, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar considered forming a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) but could not finalise the decision.
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Nawaz arrived at the Apex court in connection to the case dating back to 1985, which involves illegal allotment of Auqaf Department’s land in Pakpattan to an individual, Dewan Ghulam Qutab.
And PML-N Supremo Nawaz Sharif was the chief minister of Punjab province when the land in question was transferred.
The Suo Motu case was heard by a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Faisal Arab.
The bench had summoned the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo to appear before the court on December 4 to explain his position in the case.
As the hearing went underway, the chief justice suggested to form a JIT to probe the matter; Nawaz, however, remarked that his experience with JITs had not particularly been pleasant.
Justice Nisar observed that the case called for an investigation. “It’s no small matter, it involves 14,000 kanal land,” the top judge remarked, as he asked the former prime minister to suggest how he wanted the matter to be probed.
Asking Nawaz whether he wanted the National Accountability Bureau, the Federal Investigation Agency or a JIT to investigate the case, the chief justice gave the former premier one week to decide which institution should conduct the probe.
Justice Nisar further remarked that he wanted the two-time chief minister and three-time prime minister’s name cleared.
Nawaz told the bench that there was no order on record that he had signed in connection with the allegations.
He said that something appeared to have gone wrong at the lower levels of [the bureaucracy] and questioned if it could still be said that the Auqaf Department was involved in the fraud.
Nonetheless, the top court adjourned the hearing of the case for a week.
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