ISLAMABAD, Oct 13 (TNS) : Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the filing of multiple corruption references against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on orders of the apex court in the Panama Papers case judgment.
Filed by Advocate Muhammad Kassim Mir Jat on behalf of Sharif, the petition requests the court to order NAB to file a consolidated reference as the filing of three separate references is “illegal, and violative of law and the Constitution, besides being violative of his [Sharif’s] fundamental rights”.
The petition claims that the filing of multiple references against an accused for each asset allegedly owned by him, which is disproportionate to his known sources of income, is repugnant to section 9 of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999.
“The filing of multiple references against an accused for the same alleged offence exposes him to double punishment,” the petition reads.
Sharif in the petition has urged SC to declare its order of July 18, 2017 in the Panama Papers , in which NAB was directed to file three references against the PML-N head , per incuriam (lacking due regard for the law), as it is allegedly in violation of the Constitution.
It further requests the court to rule that an accused shall be tried through a single reference, irrespective of the number of assets alleged to have been held by him.
The petition also urges the court to suspend proceedings in the NAB reference being conducted in the accountability court in Islamabad until the Bureau files a consolidated reference against Sharif.
