Islamabad (October 15, 2018): An Accountability Court on Monday resumed hearing of Flagship and Al Azizia References against former Prime Minister, JIT Chief, Wajid Zia is recording his statement.
AC Judge Arshad Malik is hearing the reference, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is present in the courtroom.
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A copy of the Supreme Court order that directed the accountability court to complete trial of Sharif in the two cases within five weeks was presented to the judge.
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Earlier on October 12, Accountability Court adjourned the hearing of Al Azizia and Flagship References against former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif till Monday (today).
Judge Arshad Malik resumed the hearing of the references, filed on the directions of Supreme Court.
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Counsel of Nawaz Sharif, Khawaja Haris and NAB Prosecutor, Muzaffar Abbasi failed to appear before the court due to engagements in the apex court.
JIT Chief, Waji Zia was summoned today to record his statement in Flagship Investment.
Nawaz Sharif also appeared before the court.
Earlier on October 11, NAB court granted one-day exemption from the court appearance to former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif in Al Azizia Reference.
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During the proceedings, the NAB prosecutor prayed the court to fix a date for recording statement of Nawaz Sharif. Khawaja Haris, however, the counsel of former Prime Minister opposed the NAB prosecutor’s plea.
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Haris said, why NAB wants to record statement in Al Azizia earlier, from the first day we are appealing for the joint verdict in both Al Azizia and Flagship refernece, Haris added.
Earlier on October 10, NAB Court adjourned the hearing of Al Azizia Steel Mills reference against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, soon after Khawaja Haris completed cross-examination of NAB’s last witness Mehboob Alam.
Nawaz Sharif appeared before the court of Judge, Arshad Malik, cross-examination of Mehboob Alam continued on the last 10 hearings of the case.
After the adjournment of the reference, Nawaz Sharif left the court.
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Earlier on October 08, Accountability Court accepted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s plea for one-day exemption from the court appearance in Al Azizia Steel Mills Reference.
Nawaz Sharif sought a day exemption from the court appearance in Al Azizia Steel Mills Reference.
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On September 05, investigation officer of NAB presented the record of the letters, written for the record in the case, MLA did not reply, but it was decided to present the letters in the court.
The court said there is nothing in these letters, which should be kept in secret.
Earlier, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reached the court to appear in the reference filed against him on the directives of the apex court.
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As soon hearing went underway, Khawaja Haris raised the issue of Director General of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi Irfan Mangi’s meeting with the judges hearing corruption references against the Sharif family a day earlier.
“There were reports in media about DG NAB Irfan Mangi meeting with judges yesterday. We should refrain from such situations,” Haris said.
To this Judge Malik remarked, “I had summoned DG NAB and had asked him to meet me the day before yesterday, however, he left after waiting for some time which is why we met yesterday.”
Further, the judge said, “I had summoned Irfan Mangi in an official capacity. I did not speak to him about the case. The only mention of the case in our conversation was that I could not meet him the day before yesterday owing to an engagement.”
“There were some issues with remand of NAB suspects and I told Mangi to solve them otherwise he would be in trouble,” the judge further clarified.
“For the media, it might be a huge issue of Mangi meeting judges, however, it is not for us,” Judge Malik added.
Background
The trial against the Sharif family commenced on September 14, 2017.
On July 6, after four extensions in the original six-month deadline to conclude all three cases, the court announced its verdict in the Avenfield reference.
Nawaz and his sons, Hussain and Hasan, are accused in all three references whereas Maryam and Safdar were accused in the Avenfield reference only.
The two brothers, based abroad, have been absconding since the proceedings began last year and were declared proclaimed offenders by the court.
On July 10, the Supreme Court granted another six-week extension for Accountability Court-I Judge Mohammad Bashir to conclude the remaining corruption references against Nawaz and former finance minister Ishaq Dar.
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