|
Panamagate: JI lawyer earns the Supreme Court's ire
[DAWN] Continuing his arguments before the larger bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Jamaat-e-Islami... The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independentbranch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI) counsel Taufiq Asif earned the ire of the presiding judges after he made repeated references to a past case which had validated the Oct 12, 1999 military takeover of the PML-N government at the time. It was the second instance the advocate had referred to the Zafar Ali Shah case while presenting his arguments before the five-member bench of the Supreme Court. What followed was a repeat of what happened when Asif first brought it up: the bench had to remind the lawyer that the decision reached in the Zafar Ali Shah case did not, in fact, acknowledge Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... 's ownership of the London flats. The bench also expressed anger at the counsel for bringing the argument up again, noting that he seemed insistent on referring to the case seemingly without having even read its decision. Justice Ijaz-ul-Hassan admonished the lawyer saying he had "made a mockery of the case." "You have caused as much damage to your client as you possibly could," Justice Azmat Saeed added. The court also told the lawyer that he had not been able to establish any relationship between the references he was making and the ownership of the London flats. As he concluded his arguments, Advocate Asif turned the court's attention back to the Gulf Steel Mills set up in Dubai in 1974, saying he suspects the London flats were bought by selling the mills "All the petitioners should be given the chance to cross-examine Nawaz Sharif [in this regard]," he said. Justice Khosa told the advocate that the bench would decide on the matter after hearing the arguments of all the petitioners. "We will call Nawaz Sharif [to present himself in court] if there is a need for it," he assured. Posted by: Fred 2017-01-25 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=479483 |