ISLAMABAD – Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar said on Saturday that two former Supreme Court chief justices had refused to head the judicial commission instated to probe claims made by the Panama Papers regarding offshore assets belonging to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s family.
“So far the revelations coming out of the Panama leaks are just allegations. Russia, Britain, Argentina, and other countries have dismissed them as lies. It has only been the Prime Minister of Pakistan who took notice, addressed the nation, and announced a judicial commission to investigate the claims,” said the federal minister.
“It was the government’s wish that the commission should be headed by a former chief justice, but after criticism from the opposition, two candidates who had been contacted backed out. No former chief justice wants to be involved with these allegations.”
Nisar added that the commission could have been formed sooner had the judges not refused. He also said that for four days he had been trying to determine what offshore companies are. “If I did not know what offshore companies are, how would the nation at large know?”
