The past weekend was characterized by two major developments. Accepting the plea of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Supreme Court permitted the national anti-graft body to record the statements of members of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that had investigated the offshore assets of the family of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Papers case. In a separate development, Asif Ali Zardari got a clean chit in the sixth and final corruption reference against him. On August 17, a Rawalpindi accountability court had reserved its judgment on a plea filed by the former president who had sought acquittal in a reference regarding his allegedly illegal assets in the country and abroad. The PPP leader has sought his acquittal due to "weak prosecution." In his plea he had argued that during the trial the prosecution had produced evidence which was both weak and inadmissible.
Zardari's argument has merit, although some newspaper reports claims that all is not right about the verdict of the Rawalpindi accountability court. These critics argue, among other things, that since NAB chairman, Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, who owes his position to a PML (N)-PPP consensus on his appointment, is due to retire on October 10, those supporting Zardari had wanted the case to be concluded before his retirement. The situation is revealing on two major counts. Firstly, the Rawalpindi accountability court's judgment has massively contributed to strengthening the narrative of Zardari and his party: he and his party are victims of a campaign by the country's powerful establishment. The development coincides with Nawaz Sharif's expected appearance before an accountability court as soon as the NAB, which has been allowed by the Supreme Court to interview the members of the JIT in the Panama Papers case before filing references against the Sharifs in an accountability court, prepares its case for filing in the court. Placing JIT members in the NAB dock creates further doubt on the credibility of its report that led to Nawaz's disqualification.
It would be in Nawaz Sharif's own interests if he decides to pay heed to Zardari's advice in relation to his family's ordeal. Zardari has asked him to face the courts with courage, prudence and magnanimity, saying that he must stop expending his energies on judiciary-bashing.