NAB requests SC to defer Hudabiya Mills proceedings till prosecutor appointment

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Saturday filed an application to the Supreme Court seeking adjournment of Hudabiya Paper Mills case proceedings till an appointment of its prosecutor general ahead of a hearing into plea against the Lahore High Court (LHC) orders to quash Rs1.2 billion corruption reference on Monday (tomorrow).

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Mushir Alam and comprising Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, is hearing the plea filed by the anti-graft body against LHC’s verdict to quash the reference against Sharif family including Shehbaz Sharif, whose name did not appear in the Panama Paper.

The prosecutor general post has been vacant since last month after the three-year tenure of Waqas Qadeer Dar ended. The PML-N led government and NAB have still to reach a decision on appointment of the prosecutor general.

Earlier, the anti-corruption watchdog petitioned the top court for an injunction against the LHC’s verdict that had closed down the case back in 2014.

Hudaibiya Mills Reference

The Musharaf government had launched an investigation against PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif back in 2000 for their alleged involvement in money-laundering. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who is a close aide and relative of the Sharifs, had given a confessional statement before a magistrate, alleging that Sharif brothers used the Hudaibiya Paper Mills as cover for money laundering during the late 1990s.

Dar later retracted his statement and claimed the statement was obtained under duress.