Islamabad (February 13, 2018): The accountability court on Tuesday adjourned the court hearing for NAB references against the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif till Thursday due to absence of Sharif’s lawyer Khwaja Haris.
According to details, when the court proceedings into the case began, the Judge Muhammad Bashir asked as to where is the lawyer of the former prime minister?.
He was informed that Khwaja Haris could not attend the hearing due to some personal reasons on which the court adjourned the hearing by Thursday and also set February 22 for recording the statement of foreign witnesses through video link in the case.
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and Capt retd Safdar on Monday appeared before the accountability court in reference filed by the NAB.
The prosecution had summoned four witnesses including Waqas Ahmed, Sagheer Ahmed Shah, Sultan Mehmood and Dawar Manzoor.
Earlier on February 7, another prosecution witness Abdul Wahid had recorded his statement and also submitted CDs containing interview of Hussain Nawaz.
The witness Abdul Wahid told the court that he has handed over the CD of Maryam Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz’s interview aired by private TV to NAB on December 29 and on December 30 he has submitted CD of Nawaz Sharif interview to NAB.
The judge asked in how many CDs Nawaz Sharif interview comprised of? The witness told “Nawaz Sharif interview was consisted of tow CDs.”
The counsel of Sharif family Khawaja Haris argued that the witness even could not read and write and he was not addressed in the case as well.
The other witness could not record their statements due to lack of time, on which judge has adjourned the hearing till February 13.
It is learnt that 25 witnesses out of 39 have recorded their statements so far and statements of two foreign witnesses would have to be recorded but absence of accused counsel hearing adjourned without any development.
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed three corruption references against the Sharif family in September last year in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case. The references pertain to the Al-Azizia Steel Mills, offshore companies including Flagship Investment Ltd, and Avenfield properties of London.
In the Avenfield case, wherein Nawaz, Maryam and Safdar stand accused, NAB had submitted on January 22 a supplementary reference revealing new evidence and witnesses — including two UK-based individuals.
At the Jan 30 hearing, Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Harris had objected to the NAB’s supplementary reference in the Avenfield case, arguing that there is nothing new in it.
Related News:
