PM’s family members face allegations of tax evasion

A joint investigation team (JIT) that is probing into allegations of tax evasion by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s family will submit its findings on Monday.

The Supreme Court appointed the JIT after Opposition parties demanded probe against the premier. Last year, the so-called Panama Papers revealed that three of Prime Minister Sharif's children owned offshore companies and assets not shown on his family's wealth statement. The assets in question are four expensive flats in Park Lane London valuing more than £5 million.

The Sharifs claimed that the flats were purchased by a Qatari consortium in the 1990s and came to the ownership of Mr. Sharif’s sons in 2006. A detailed judgment by the Pakistani Supreme court in April this year apparently favoured the Prime Minister in a split three-two judgment. Mr. Sharif and his party distributed sweets saying he won the case. But that was battle only half won.

Court decision

The apex court constituted a joint investigation team consisting of financial experts from the State Bank and Security and Exchange Commission and investigators from the National Accountability Bureau and the Federal Investigation Agency. Most surprising was the inclusion of representatives from military intelligence agencies, Inter Services Intelligence and the Military Intelligence.

They were given 60 days to complete their investigations, which expires on July 10. In the past few weeks, the Prime Minister’s sons Hussain and Hassan, daughter Maryam and a caretaker of the Sharif family business, Tariq Shafi, were questioned by the JIT.

Reports against the JIT members were leaked in pro-government publication group Jang, which owns the largest Urdu circulation newspaper and a top news channel. The Sharif family objected to the conduct of the JIT but the apex court rejected its objection.

Legal experts believe that whatever the final decision will be, the judiciary will stand to lose. “It’s been a political case from the beginning. Political controversies should be resolved in Parliament. Now both the ruling party and the Opposition are putting pressure on the judiciary,” said retired Justice Tariq Mehmood, who was also the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. “So any decision will attract criticism by one of the parties. It’s a failure of politicians but the judiciary has been put on a test.”

The former judge added it will be difficult for the judiciary to disqualify the Prime Minister. “The controversy is about the flats in London which are in the ownership of Sharif’s sons. So to disqualify the Prime Minister on that basis will be difficult. If they had done something illegal in the U.K., it is for the British government to ask them if they had amassed wealth through illegal means.”

Futile exercise

Former newspaper editor Ziauddin believes the JIT probe is a futile exercise. “The JIT has not come out with new evidence. It seems that the government has succeeded in getting public sympathy. The way Prime Minister Sharif, his sons and daughter were called for questioning seems that it has given more advantage to the ruling family,” he observed.

Mr. Sharif’s party has been using a conspiracy theory card to defend itself. Its ministers are repeatedly pointing towards a plan to oust Mr. Sharif from the government. “If Nawaz Sharif is shown the door ‘unnaturally’, he will return to power even stronger in the next election,” Railways Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique said.