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Panamagate case: PM Nawaz Shaif counsel impresses judges

ISLAMABAD: The arguments by PM Nawaz Sharif counsel  Makhdoom Ali Khan has not only create complete silence but also impressed the supreme court judges who heard panamagate case and they even did not raise single question during his argument in the full courtroom No 2.

Makhdoom Ali in his 80-minutes long arguments, the Prime Minister’s Counsel also cited a reference of a judgment authored by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa where a seven-member larger bench headed by the then Chief Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk observed: “Article 62 (1) F of the Constitution is the nightmare of interpretations and feast of obscurities.” Before disqualifying the elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr Makhdoom argued before the bench, “My Lords you need to look at the background and understand content of this judgment approved by seven judges of the apex court.”

It was a vital moment in the courtroom. Learned judge Asif Saeed Khosa observed in one of SC’s judgments that “—clauses of Article 62, if applied strictly, are probably incorporated in the Constitution to ensure that only the pure and pious Muslims (living up to the standard of a prophet of God Almighty) should be elected to our assemblies so that…..the sovereignty of God Almighty could be exercised by them in the state of Pakistan as a sacred trust.”

The interesting coincidence is that the   judgment was written by Justice Khosa who is now heading the bench hearing the landmark case of Pakistan’s history. No one talked about the money trail, hidden properties, Panama Papers, London flats and Mills in Dubai and Jeddah and no reference of the Qatar prince letter.

Friday’s hearing started with a challenging question of PM’s possible disqualification. Will Mr Makhdoom satisfy the judges who hurled volley of questions on Thursday?

Fridays is the day since the proceedings into Panama Leaks case started in the apex court when the judges did not ask a single question from the counsel during the day-long proceedings.

Premier Sharif’s counsel cited over 16-17 references in support of his arguments. The observers were happy to hear his arguments adorned with appropriate  quotes from George Bernard Shah, T.S. Eliot and William Shakespeare.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders, Mussadiq Malik, Zafarullah Khan, Maryam Aurangzeb, Danial Aziz and Mohammad Zubair, were keenly observing the course of proceedings.

Sheikh Rashid of Awami Muslim League, a party in this case and Jahangir Tareen of PTI could not attend Friday’s hearing while Naeem Bokhari left the court before the case adjourned for Monday at 9:30am.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan continued whispering into ears of Dr Shireen Mazari, Naeem-ul-Haq, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Naeem Bokhari, Maleeka Bokhari and Fawad Chaudhry during the course of proceedings.

Then an important moment came when Mr Makhdoom quoted Justice Khosa’s observations on Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution written in the apex court’ order: PLD-2015-Supreme Court -275. He quoted G.B. Shaw as saying that “democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.”

He also quoted Abraham Lincoln as saying –if bad laws exist they should be repealed as soon as possible, still while they continue in force.” Then he quoted Baron de Montesquieu who had declared that “useless laws weaken necessary laws.”

As Makhdoom continued his arguments, the pensive looking legislatures of PML-N looked happy. A PTI’s senior leader told a lady anchorperson on a lighter note that Jamaat-e-Islami top leadership was sitting among female lawyers.

He will continue with his argument on Monday when hearing will start again.