RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Chief Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Senator Siraj-ul-Haq has said that corruption is a monumental endemic that has eaten deep into every fabric of society and termed it the responsibility of the Supreme Court to purge the country of this menace.

Talking to media persons after the Supreme Court’s proceedings here on Tuesday, he said the ‘Panama Leaks’ has become a national issue. He was of the view that the political workers as well as non-political people want a corruption-free society. However, he said that the government is not willing to resolve this issue and is using delaying tactics.

Sirajul Haq said the JI wants the Supreme Court to decide the issue within December and a judicial commission should be constituted for inquiry into the issue. He said that all political parties want the same and this is why joint ToRs were finalised, but the government did not accept them.

He said the JI wants probe and trial of all those who have been named in the Panama Leaks, including the people from the ruling party, opposition, judiciary and bureaucracy. However, he said, the inquiry against the prime minister and his family should be completed at first as he had offered himself for accountability.

The JI chief said that nobody could be above accountability in the present era and it is time to cleanse the society of corruption.

He said that politics could be purged of corrupt elements only if the prime minister is made accountable, adding if the politicians are involved in corruption then how corruption can be checked.

He said the eyes of the entire nation are on the apex court. He said he does not want to see the day when the nation gets disappointed from the judiciary.

He said that reforms are also required in the judicial system and termed it the job of the Parliament. He said the ruling party has not presented any bill in this regard, while four bills were submitted by the JI on the issue but they have been put into the cold storage by the Speaker.

About military courts, he said that establishment of military courts shows lack of public confidence in civil courts. He said the military courts had been accepted only for a limited period and it is imperative to introduce judicial reforms to strengthen the institution.

Sirajul Haq said the Jamaat-e-Islami is stressing to form a judicial commission because the NAB, FIA and other institutions have failed to take action against those whose names are mentioned in Panama Leaks.