Panamagate hearing adjourned till January, PTI announces boycott of commission

Islamabad [Pakistan]: The Pakistan Supreme Court on Friday adjourned the hearing of the Panamagate case till January next year.

During the hearing, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf announced to boycott Panamagate proceedings if the Supreme Court formed a judicial commission to probe the case while the Sharif family was in favour of the formation of a commission, reports the Express Tribune.

“PTI will not accept the formation of a commission and if the court constitutes it then we will boycott proceedings,” PTI counsel Naeem Bukhari told a five-judge bench hearing the case.

The bench agreed not to form the commission and said the case will be reheard by a new bench as incoming Chief Justice Saqib Nisar will have the power to reconstitute it.

On Thursday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan rejected the Supreme Court’s proposal to form an inquiry commission to probe into the Panamagate case, saying the existing top court bench led by the Chief Justice can decide the case on a day-to-day basis.

The apex court is hearing a slew of petitions, including those filed by the PTI in the wake of the Panama Papers, which revealed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s children were among those influential people from around the world who had stashed money in offshore companies. (ANI)