Islamabad (December 11, 2017): The Supreme Court resumed hearing of National Accountability Bureau’s appeal against a Lahore High court bench verdict to scrap Rs1.2 billion Hudaibiya Paper Mills case.
A full bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Mushir Alam resumed hearing of the appeal. The bench also includes Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel as members.
NAB has appealed an earlier decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC) directing it to scrap the reference. Members of Sharif family and former finance minister Ishaq Dar have been accused of money laundering in the reference.
On Saturday, NAB requested the adjournment of proceedings till its new prosecutor general is appointed. The office of NAB prosecutor has been lying vacant since Waqas Qadeer Dar retired in November.
NAB had urged the apex court to adjourn the matter, instead of hearing it on December 11 (today). It was argued that the opening of the Hudaibiya reference holds extreme significances, it would be better if it is pleaded through the office of the prosecutor general.
The accountability bureau also submitted a set of documents to the court including copies of interim, and final reference on Hudaibya case along with Volume 8A of the Joint Investigation Team, which was formed to probe former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s assets, report which also contains the copy of the Hudaibya reference.
Alongside, NAB also submitted the diary of the accountability court which heard the Hudaibya reference, as well as the procedure of appointment of the NAB chairperson and the list of all chairmen of the bureau appointed so far till its inception in 1999.
A timeline of Nawaz Sharif’s appointment as prime minister, including the period he was in exile after being ousted by former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf was also submitted.
On November 28 hearing, SC had directed the bureau to produce all records of the case at the next hearing.
On September 20 this year, NAB filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the LHC’s 2014 decision, naming former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his brothers Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and late Abbas Sharif, their mother Shamim Akhter, Shehbaz’s son and MNA Hamza Shehbaz, Nawaz’s daughter Maryam, and others as respondents.
The NAB has pleaded the Supreme Court to dismiss the LHC decision to quash the case and order a reinvestigation into the scam as per the new evidence which surfaced in the Panama case Joint Investigation Team report.
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