File photo of Nawaz Sharif.
New Delhi: In a 3-2 split verdict that had two dissenting notes, Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday ordered further probe into the Panama Papers case against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The court has ordered the setting up of a joint investigation team which has to submit its report in 60 days.
Sharif and family have been ordered to appear before the probe team. The members of the probe team will be finalised in seven days.
“PM Sharif will not step down pending this inquiry. There is nothing incriminating against the PM and the JIT will not find anything against him,” said Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, chairman of PML-N.
The case had essentially sought the disqualification of 67-year-old Sharif over his alleged misstatement in his address to the nation on April 5 and his speech before the National Assembly on May 16, 2016.
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was the main petitioner in the Panama case involving alleged illegal money laundering by Sharif in 1990s when he twice served as Prime Minister to purchase assets in London.
The assets surfaced when Panama papers showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif’s family.
Source: News18