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Nawaz Sharif Raises Questions Over JIT’s Formation

Islamabad(May 21, 2018): Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while recording his statement in Avenfield Reference in Accountability Court on Monday raised questions over JIT’s formation, termed the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict, as “inappropriate” and “unnecessary”. 

Answering the questions, Nawaz Sharif informed about the details of all the public offices he held so far.
Former Premier in his statement said that ” I am 68 years old and I have served as Chief Minister of Punjab and Prime Minister of Pakistan.

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I had raised objection over JIT members under Article 10 (A) of the Constitution. JIT members were having political affiliation as Bilal Rasool was the nephew of former Punjab governor, sharif informed.

He also said that Rasool has criticised the government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in the past and that his wife is a fervent supporter of PTI. He said that son of Mian Azhar, Hamad Azhar took a picture with Imran Khan in 2017, adding that Bilal Rasool had given anti-Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) statements.

Criticizing Wajid Zia, the former PM and PML-N Quaid said that Zia’s biases in the investigation have been evident from the start. Nawaz also remarked that it was inappropriate to include officers from MI and ISI in the JIT, adding that the JIT report was affected by the current strained civilian-military relations. During Last hearing of the case on May 18, the statements of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar in the Avenfield case could not be recorded as the defence sought more time to ponder over the questions sent by the accountability court.

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As the hearing went underway, Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Haris pleaded the court to delay the recording of statements until Monday(today) as they need more time to go over the questions sent by court owing to some discrepancies.The prosecution objected to the plea, saying the defence just wants to waste time.

However, Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir approved the plea but observed that the recording of statements will not be delayed further than Monday.

Moreover, the court ruled that Panama case JIT head Wajid Zia, who was to be cross-examined in the Al Azizia reference on Monday, should now appear in court on Tuesday.

It may be recalled that Accountability Court handed over Questionaire to Nawaz Sharif on May 16.

Background Of The cases:

The trial against the Sharif family had commenced on September 14, 2017.

The corruption references, filed against the Sharifs, pertain to the Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment, offshore companies including Flagship Investment Ltd, and Avenfield properties of London.Nawaz and sons Hussain and Hasan are accused in all three references whereas his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Safdar are 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.

The court originally had a deadline of six months which ended in mid-March but was extended for two months after the judge requested the apex court.

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