SC to declare verdict on recording of JIT sessions today

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will give the statement of verdict on Tuesday (today) at 1 pm over the objection made by the Hussain Nawaz  regarding the recordings of the Panama case Joint Investigation Team (JIT)’s sessions.

The Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s son Hussain Nawaz had filed a petition challenging the recording of JIT’s proceedings after his interrogation picture was leaked to the media.

In order to oversee the case, a special implementation bench was formed headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh.

On Tuesday (today), the bench will also hear the attorney general's response to the court's questions regarding the role of the Intelligence Bureau pertaining to the case.

The JIT is conducting investigative sessions to probe into the Sharif family’s foreign business assets in light of the Supreme Court’s April 20 judgment.

The plea made by the client’s counsel Khawaja Harris stated that, the JIT proceedings should not be recorded on video as “it has no control on the CCTV cameras,” he said, commenting on the JIT's report on the issue which was submitted to the court on June 12.

The bench however, observed that recordings are carried out so as to maintain accurate transcripts and questioned the petitioner as to what damage the leaking of his picture had done to him.

In his response to the JIT’s report over the leaked picture, Hussain had termed it a combination of contradictions, regarding the secrecy of the recordings and of the source who leaked the picture.

The picture, in which Hussain can be seen sitting, is reportedly of the interrogation room of the JIT on May 28, went viral on social media after being leaked underhandedly.