The five-member Supreme Court bench that gave its judgement in the Panama Papers case on Friday said, inter alia, that "in normal circumstances, such exercise could be conducted by the NAB but when its Chairman appears to be indifferent and even unwilling to perform his part, we are constrained to look elsewhere and therefore, constitute a Joint Investigation Team (JIT),..." It also said: "This court commends and appreciates the hard work and efforts made by members of the JIT and their support and ancillary staff in preparing and filing a comprehensive and detailed report as per our orders. Their tenure of service shall be safeguarded and protected and no adverse action of any nature including transfer and posting shall be taken against them without informing the monitoring judge of this court nominated by the Hon'ble Chief Justice of Pakistan." No doubt, the JIT has performed a historic feat. Since the apex court has ordered that criminal charges be filed against Nawaz Sharif and his family the NAB is required to play its role honestly, efficiently and professionally strictly in accordance with law.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017