Apex body of the legal fraternity has offered services to hold inquiry into massive leak of tax and financial records known as the Panama leaks that tangled Sharif family among 140 world leaders. Talking to Supreme Court reporters on Wednesday, President Supreme Court Bar Association Barrister Ali Zafar rejected the formation of a judicial commission which Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif has announced during address to the nation for unearthing the facts of the burning issue.
"We reject the formation of a judicial commission, announced by the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to probe the sensational leaks by Panama Papers," Barrister Zafar said. President SCBA made it clear that both the judicial and inquiry commission constituted by the incumbent government was not acceptable saying the judiciary should not be involved in that matter.
He was of the view that formation of commission in the matter would be a lengthy process and will not even be an independent commission as well, adding that during past many judicial commissions were formed which neither proved meaningful nor its findings were made public.
Barrister Ali Zafar said Panama leaks which tangled Sharif family, was a public interest matter which required an independent commission to probe the matter independently that was possible only when the commission was given a free hand. Offering the government its platform to probe the issue of Panama Leaks the President SCBA said the government would be bound to observe two conditions; one was to give mandate for completion of the probe in two weeks and the other one was that mandate would be to make the report public.
Expressing his concern over possibility of PM himself constituting the commission to probe the issue, the SCBA President said then the Commission would be meaningless as it would not be assumed an independent commission. Barrister Ali Zafar said if the SCBA was assigned the task to probe the issue, it would constitute a committee, comprising high calibre lawyers, adding the SCBA being an independent body could unearth the facts to the public at large.