Sirajul Haq demands resignation of those mentioned in Pandora Papers, vows to move SC for independent inquiry

Addressing a press conference at Mansoora on Tuesday, he also rejected the so-called high-powered cell formed on the orders of the prime minister to investigate if any irregularity had been committed by the 700 Pakistanis names in the recent leaks.

“How a person who had demanded the judicial inquiry of the persons named in Panama Leaks could take a completely different stance when it comes to the matter of the investigations of his own friends,” Sirajul Haq questioned while referring to the PM Imran Khan’s stance as opposition leader during the tenure of the PML-N government. 

He said the ruling elite day and night preached to the overseas Pakistani to send their money to Pakistan but stashed their own wealth to offshore accounts. This dual standard must end now and all those who committed tax fraud and made billions through illegal way should be held accountable, he demanded.

The JI chief declared the debate on the legal or illegal status of offshore companies as tool to divert public intentions. He said those offshore companies were tools of corrupt capitalist system to protect the corrupt elite across the world.

He said Pakistani ruling elite was a large beneficiary of the system. He said only 400 Indians were named in Pandora Papers as compared to 700 Pakistanis. He said on one side millions of Pakistanis were deprived of from basic needs and even clean drinking water facility while on the other side two percent ruling elite were making billions through loot, plunder and tax theft.

He said the NAB and other institutions failed to deliver as the so-called accountability drive became a joke. He also demanded the government not to ignore the Constitution while giving extension to any head of the institution.

Sirajul Haq said the Chief Justice of Pakistan should take suo moto notice of the Pandora Papers and constitute a judicial commission which should also launch investigation to 436 persons named in Panama Leaks. He said the JI application for the Panama Leak inquiry was already pending before the apex court.

To a question, he said the PTI failed to provide relief to the masses in three years as inflation and unemployment brought endless problems tothe life of common man.

He said the JI would hold a protest demonstration against unemployment on October 31 in Islamabad in which unemployed youth from across the country would participate.