ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court verdict on the Panama Leaks case started with reference to Mario Puzo’s 1969 novel ‘The Godfather’

In its verdict, the Supreme Court ordered the formation of a JIT to probe the money trail but did not disqualify Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The JIT which will comprise members from FIA, NAB, SBP, SECP, IS and MI will complete and present its finding to a bench of the apex court in 60 days.

The reference states that the popular 1969 novel “The Godfather” by Mario Puzo recounts the violent take of a Mafia family and the epigraph selected by the author was fascinating:  

Behind every great fortune there is a crime.
— Balzac

The novel was a popular sensation which was made into an acclaimed film. It is believed that this epigraph was inspired by a sentence that was written by Honoré de Balzac and its original version in French reads as follows:

Le secret des grandes fortunes sans cause apparente est un crime oublié, parce qu’il a été proprement fait.

(The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed)

The judgement then states that it is ironical and a sheer coincidence that the present case revolves around that very sentence attributed to Balzac.

Read the detailed judgement here.