Sharif family fails to show up before NAB for second time

LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) once again served summons on Sharif family including ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his children – Hussain, Hassan and Maryam Nawaz – to appear before it in connection with probe into the family’s London flats, ARY News reported.

Official sources said NAB had summoned Sharif, his sons, daughter and her husband retired Capt Muhammad Safdar between 11:00 am to 2:00 pm, but they did not turn up before a NAB team at Lahore office.

Headed by director general Saleem Shahzad, the NAB team has begun investigation into the family’s flats in a posh London neighborhood.

Earlier on Aug 18, the anti-graft body had summoned Nawaz Sharif, his sons – Hussain and Hassan Nawaz – for investigation into the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case, the first of many cases that it would investigate. However, they failed to show up.

Later in the day, Amjad Pervaiz, the counsel for the Sharif family, filed a written reply with the NAB’s office in Lahore, maintaining that Sharif had filed three appeals in the apex court seeking review of his disqualification by the court and stay on further implementation of the verdict. The counsel said his clients will not appear until the court decides these appeals.

The NAB on Friday held a meeting where it was briefed on the legal aspects of the references and inquiries against the Sharif family. It is also known that the NAB chairman Chaudhry Qamar-uz-Zaman is likely to go abroad for seven to ten days.

Earlier this week, Nawaz Sharif has approached the Supreme Court challenging his disqualification verdict and seeking a stay order against further implementation of the verdict and filing of references against him and other family members by NAB.

On July 28, a five-member bench of the Supreme Court bench had disqualified Nawaz Sharif in a unanimous verdict in the Panamagate case, for concealing his salary from a Dubai-based company, and cutting short his third stint in power.

As part of the verdict, the Supreme Court had only directed NAB to file references within six weeks based on the findings of the Joint Investigation Team constituted by the court to investigate them offshore assets.

The Sharif family seems to be using delaying tactics over the eventual retirement of incumbent NAB chairman in October after the anti-graft watchdog would become effectively dysfunctional.