ISLAMABAD: A convention representing all bar associations of the country threatened on Saturday to launch a countrywide campaign against the government if the parliamentary committee failed to formulate a consensus-oriented terms of reference (ToR) to probe the Panama Papers leaks.

`Two weeks is all we will wait before launching the campaign that may also include petitioning the Supreme Court with a plea to set up an inquiry commission on its own under its original jurisdiction on the enforcement of fundamental rights, Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Senator Farogh Naseem said at an All Pakistan Lawyers Representative Convention on Panama leaks.

The convention, held at the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) complex, however was quick to unanimously reject the demand that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif tender his resignation till the time his name is cleared saying `we do not want to derail democracy, but a fact-finding exercise must be done`.

`What a shame that a promising and greatcountrylikePakistanhas tobe bracketed with corrupt nations only because of the follies of our ruling elite,` the vice chairman bemoaned.

`We do not want to derail democracy, but does democracy means the licence to corruption?` Barrister Naseem said: `We need to apply breaks somewhere.

Talking to Dawn, SCBA President Ali Zafar explained that the convention had helped giving the association`s ToR the force of a unanimously adopted joint resolution by all representative bodies including the PBC the mother regulatory body of the legal fraternity.

Mr Zafar read out the resolution adopted by the convention emphasising that the parliamentary committee should include in its deliberations on ToR that the investigation should start from the prime minister and his children in phase one to find out if Mr Sharif had invested or owned any offshore properties or some crime or wrongdoing had been done inclusive of the trail ofmoney / funds and reconciliation with the declaration before the Election Commission of Pakistan and income / wealth tax authorities from January 1985 till date.

The inquiry then should be stretched to members of the judiciary, civil bureaucracy, etc., in the next phase, adding that the inquiry should be restricted to parliamentarians and holders of public office as they have to conform to the requirements of Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution and not against the businessmen or loan defaulters.

The resolution asked Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali to nominate two eminent sitting or retired judges of the Supreme Court and a legal expert of eminence as members of the commission, which should have the powers to constitute an international joint investigating team or teams to seek international cooperation from agencies of a foreign country to provide information, documents, evidence and record from abroad by directing the government of Pakistan to move the mutual legal assistance requests.

The governments including the provincial ones and agencies like NAB, FIA, IB, State Bank of Pakistan and SECP will be liable to extend all cooperation and assistance for the investigation to the commission and shall comply with all directions of the commission issued in pursuance of or for the purpose of investigation, the resolution said.

The time period for completion of the investigation should be two months extendable to a maximum of six months from the date of commencement of the probe.

The commission, which should be given the powers of a civil court, will publish and malce public its findings and conclusions itself without any reference to the government, besides the hearing of the commission should be open and transparent. The commission should have the powers to regulate its own procedures.

The legal community is of the view that in the fight against corruption this is a historical moment and the parliamentary committee must formulate ToR in two weeks with consensus or else it will be considered that parliament has failed to meet the aspirations of people, cautioned the resolution.