Pakpattan land case: Dr Hussain Asghar replaces Khaliq Dad Lak as JIT head

LAHORE (92 News) – Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar has appointed Anti-Corruption Establishment DG Dr Hussain Asghar as the head of joint investigation team (JIT) probing the Pakpattan land case against former premier Nawaz Sharif. The court has also sought new terms of reference (ToRs) within 10 days. National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) Directorate General (DG) Khaliq Dad Lak had refused to lead the JIT for personal reasons. Earlier, the SC formed a JIT to probe the case pertaining to the transfer of Pakpattan shrine land in violation of a court order when he was the chief minister of Punjab. A three-member bench headed by CJP Nisar heard the suo motu case regarding transfer of 14,000 kanals of Pakpattan shrine land to Dewan Ghulam Qutab in 1985. The former premier is accused of ordering the withdrawal of notification of Dec 17, 1969, and allegedly allotting Auqaf land to Qutab in violation of a high court order when he was the provincial chief executive in 1986. The apex court had established a three-member JIT to probe the allegations against the former PM. The JIT will be headed by National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) chief Khalid Dad Lak, with one member of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) each. In the last hearing, Nawaz had expressed his reservations over being probed by a JIT but his counsel on Thursday told the CJP that his client “agreed for the formation of a JIT”. At this, the chief justice remarked that Nawaz Sharif “is taking the risk of JIT”. He then constituted the JIT and summoned its head in the next hearing, while ordering the probe’s terms of reference (ToR) to be finalised within a week. During the last hearing on December 4, the CJP had offered Nawaz Sharif to propose which institution should investigate the charges against him.