ISLAMABAD: In a notable legal development, the Supreme Court has fixed a hearing date for Broadsheet LLC’s petition. The asset recovery company has filed a petition seeking the release of Volume-10 of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report related to the Panama Papers leaks case.
A two-member bench, chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, will take up this petition on August 22. The apex court has also issued notices to the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) and other relevant parties involved in the case.
The origins of this case date back to 1999 when the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) entered into an agreement with Broadsheet during Pervez Musharraf’s government. The primary objective of this agreement was to locate and track the assets of over 200 Pakistani individuals, commonly referred to as ‘targets’ within the contract. Notably, this group encompassed high-profile figures, including generals, politicians, and businessmen, with Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari, and Nawaz Sharif among the primary targets.
However, tensions escalated when NAB abruptly terminated its contract with Broadsheet in 2003, triggering a contentious dispute over payment. Broadsheet contended that it had effectively aided NAB in uncovering the foreign assets of the Sharif family but had not received the agreed-upon compensation for its services.
In response to this, Broadsheet initiated legal proceedings against NAB in a UK court, further intensifying the dispute over unpaid dues. Remarkably, the asset recovery firm sought to introduce a copy of Volume-10 of the JIT report as crucial evidence in the UK court, underscoring the report’s critical significance in their ongoing legal battle.
