Supreme Court seeks details of ‘Jeddah Steel Mill’ in Panamagate case
- By Web Desk -
- Nov 30, 2016
ISLAMABAD: From buying and until it was sold, the apex court on Wednesday sought complete details of Sharif family’s Jeddah Steel Mill after it resumed the hearing of Panamagate case.
All the documents submitted to the court by the Sharif family as responses were different from the speeches made in the assembly, said the apex court in its remarks.
The court asked: How the finances were raised for Jeddah Steel Mill? How loans were taken from Saudi banks? How and at what value, Jeddah Steel Mill was sold? How was money transferred from Jeddah to London? How Tariq Shafi transferred 12 million dirhams to Qatar?
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Regarding the letter by Qatari prince, dated November 5, 2016, the court asked about the legal status of the letter, since the name of the recipient was not mentioned in it.
Saying PM Nawaz was misleading the court through false statements, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) lead counsel in the Panamagate case Naeem Bukhari said that there was no money trail regarding Sharif family’s properties in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and London flats.
He claimed Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had forged his cousin, Tariq Shafi’s signatures on few documents because there was a clear difference in the signatures on the affidavit and the contract.
The PTI’s counsel during the hearing of the infamous case also revealed about another property of the Sharif family.
Bukhari told the court that Flagship limited was owned by Hussain Nawaz and PTI recently got hold of its downloaded documents recently.
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The court maintained that PTI should prove a pre-2006 connection between the Sharif family and offshore companies and if it succeeded in doing so, then the family would be under all immense pressure.
The Panamagate case was later adjourned until December 6.
Chairman PTI Imran Khan and Awami Muslim League (AML) Chief Sheikh Rasheed were also present in the hearing today, hoping for a breakthrough in the high-profile case.
“Sharif brothers will see their fate since their case is in a big court,” anticipated Sheikh Rasheed.
Senior politician Shah Mehmood Qureshi linked PTI’s participation in the parliament with the Supreme Court’s verdict in the case.
Its last hearing was held on November 17 after which PTI’s lead counsel Hamid Khan bowed himself out of the case and later, Naeem Bokhari and Dr Babar Awan took charge of the case.
Recently PTI had submitted more evidence against the prime minister in the court.
A treasure trove of classified documents leaked from a Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca in April revealed that PM’s children – Maryam, Hussain, and Hasan – were among dozens of people who owned offshore businesses across international tax havens.