Chaos to prevail if controversy mars JIT report: Sanaullah

LAHORE: Law Minister Punjab Rana Sanaullah said on Wednesday that the Joint Investigation Team’s report getting marred by controversy can lead to chaos in the country.

The provincial minister was speaking to media in Lahore.

“If a campaign starts against the JIT report then I will be at the forefront,” said Sanaullah.

The minister said that the Sharif family reserves the right to boycott the JIT.

Sanaullah stated that it is the Supreme Court’s responsibility to present a satisfactory answer in relation to the issue of Hussain Nawaz’s picture before the session and the controversial Whatsapp call.

He said after the picture of the PM’s son surfaced, there exists no doubt that the Sharif family is been ridiculed.

He alleged that the witnesses in the case were being pressurised and notice should be taken of the matter.

The apex court on Wednesday expressed satisfaction with the progress of the JIT probing the prime minister’s family’s global financial dealings.

The head of the JIT, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Additional Director-General Wajid Zia, had earlier submitted the probe team's interim progress report to the special implementation bench.

Since the last progress report was submitted, the probe has been marred by several controversies.

A news report published in The News revealed that a person claiming to be the Supreme Court registrar had surreptitiously contacted the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and asked for specific persons to be included in the list of potential JIT members. The prime minister’s son, Hussain, had raised questions of bias against one of the SECP officials who made it to the probe team. However, those objections were not entertained by the court.

Moreover, a picture of Hussain during his first visit to the JIT on May 28 was leaked to the media recently, raising questions about the credibility of the JIT’s work. In the picture, Hussain can be seen inside a room with no other pieces of furniture except for the chair he is sitting on and a table beside it. Opposition parties claimed the government itself leaked the picture to gain sympathy, however, the Interior Ministry denied those claims.