ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Wednesday rejected former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s in-chamber appeal to club three graft references against him into one.
Justice Nisar heard the plea filed by Sharif in his chamber today.
The petition has previously been rejected twice by the top court’s registrar office and the CJP.
On Nov 16, Justice Nisar dismissed Sharif’s plea on grounds that the option to review the Panama Papers judgment had already been availed by the former premier.
Previously on Oct 13, the appeal was rejected by the registrar office after raising objections, while directing the petitioner to consult the relevant forum in this regard as Sharif had already availed a review chance in the case.
The petition was filed through ex-PM Sharif’s legal team, stating that filling multiple references on a single allegation, possessing assets beyond known sources of income, is the sheer breach of Section 9 (a) (5) of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO).
The petition pleaded for suspension of the accountability court proceedings until the other three references were incorporated within a single corruption reference.
It asserted that holding several trials on a single allegation is violation of the defendant’s fundamental rights.
It merits to highlight that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was ousted by the Supreme Court in its July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case.
Nawaz Sharif has been complaining about dual standards of justice in the country following the court proceedings in three graft references.
Indictment in three references
On Oct 19, the NAB court indicted deposed PM Nawaz Sharif through his pleader in the three references.
It had also framed charges against his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar in a reference regarding Avenfield apartments in London.
The charge sheet was read out in the courtroom in presence of Maryam Nawaz, her spouse Capt (r) Safdar, and Sharif’s representative Zafir Khan.
Nawaz, through his representative, Maryam, and Safdar rejected the charges by pleading ‘not guilty’.
According to the charge sheet, Maryam Nawaz was the sole beneficiary of Avenfield apartments in London and she submitted the forged documents with regard to trust deed of the London properties to the Panamagate JIT, using ‘Calibri font’.
It is apropos to mention here that the reference relates to the Avenfield properties (flats 16, 16-A, 17 and 17-A Avenfield House, Park Lane, London, United Kingdom).
