Broadsheet: Justice (retd) Azmat Saeed heads the inquiry committee

 Broadsheet: Justice (retd) Azmat Saeed heads the inquiry committee

The federal government of Pakistan has handed over the chairmanship of the three-member inquiry committee to investigate the Broadsheet case to former Supreme Court Judge Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh.

It may be recalled that a company called Broadsheet and its head Kavya Mousavi have recently made controversial statements about the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Pakistan.

The remarks by Kave Mousavi came as Broadsheet LLC recently won a UK arbitration lawsuit against the Pakistani government. Following a court order, he was paid about 29 29 million from the bank account of the Pakistani embassy in the UK.

Kaveh Mousavi has claimed that he had traced millions of dollars worth of bank accounts and assets of several Pakistani politicians abroad, including the family of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which was set up abroad. But it approved the formation of a three-member inquiry committee headed by a retired judge, which will have to complete its investigation in 45 days.

Federal Minister Shibli Faraz said that Justice (retd) Sheikh Azmat Saeed has also been an excellent advocate of corporate law so his appointment as the head of the inquiry committee would help in getting to the bottom of the matter.

When asked if Justice (Retd) Sheikh Azmat Saeed was the Deputy Prosecutor General in the NAB at the time of the agreement reached between Broadshed and the NAB in 2000 to trace the assets of Nawaz Sharif and other politicians. Isn't this a conflict of interest?

He replied that his experience would help the committee investigate.

Justice Azmat Saeed was appointed an ad hoc judge in the Lahore High Court in 2004 and a permanent judge in 2005. In 2011, he became the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court.

Federal Minister Shibli Faraz said that the appointment of Justice (retd) Azmat Saeed has been made unanimously. The notification of the appointment of other members of the committee will be issued on January 22.

The inquiry committee will be mandated to complete its investigation and submit a report within a month and a half.

He said that besides lawyers, the committee would also have the services of experts to assist in the investigation.

Justice (retd) Azmat Saeed was also part of the five-member bench that ruled in the Panama case. He was one of the judges who decided to form a JIT instead of the immediate disqualification of the Prime Minister in the decision of Imran Khan's petition against Nawaz Sharif in Panama Lakes.

On the other hand, PML-N has expressed reservations over the appointment of Justice (retd) Azmat Saeed Sheikh. The party's general secretary Ahsan Iqbal has claimed that Justice (retd) Azmat Saeed Sheikh is also a member of the board of governance of Shaukat Khanum Hospital. He asked how it was possible that a person who had been involved in the case and whose decision had been included in Broadsheet's investigation should be given the chairmanship of the inquiry committee set up to look into the matter. It may be recalled that in the meeting of the Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting of the National Assembly, the government has opposed summoning the Chairman NAB on the issue of Broadsheet. Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz, who was present at the meeting, opposed the proposal, saying it was not an appropriate forum to summon the NAB chairman. He said that if NAB chairman Javed Iqbal is to be summoned then all the characters who are responsible for the matter of Broadsheet should be summoned.