ISLAMABAD: The accountability court on Thursday rejected a plea filed by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for inclusion of Panamagate Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probe report as part of the case record.
Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir is conducting trial in Avenfield property reference filed against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar.
At the outset of court proceedings today, the defence lawyer requested the court to exempt his clients from personal appearance as the former premier is unwell.
Judge Muhammad Bashir granted permission to Sharif and his daughter Maryam to leave after marking their attendance. However, the judge directed Maryam’s spouse to remain present at the courtroom.
The hearing was then adjourned till 10:00 am owing to absence of NAB’s key witness Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Additional Director Wajid Zia, who was also the head of Panamagate JIT.
Following the recess, the court resumed hearing of the case again after the witness appeared before the court.
Zia informed the judge that he was tasked to conduct investigation into authenticity of a letter provided by the Qatari Prince, Sharif’s offshore companies named Gulf Steel and Hill Metals Company.
He said the investigation mainly surrounded the question as how the assets of former premier Nawaz Sharif and his dependants were increased manifold.
Maryam’s lawyer Amjad Pervez objected to the statement and argued that the witness was referring to an order which was not part of the record, besides his clients were not provided the copies of the ruling.
The NAB prosecutor then pleaded with the judge to include the JIT report into the case record.
The defence lawyer opposed the plea and maintained that a summary couldn’t be made a part of ongoing proceedings as evidence.
“It’s a breach of law,” he asserted.
The hearing was still underway.
Sharif along with his sons-Hussain and Hassan – has been named in three references filed by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in compliance with the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict last year, while his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Capt. Safdar have been nominated in a reference with regard to the Sharif family’s London-based Avenfield properties.
