ISLAMABAD Oct 19 (TNS): Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law MNA Capt (retd) Safdar are expected to be indicted today in the corruption references filed against them in an accountability court after their pleas were rejected.
The references were filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case.
Though Maryam and Safdar are in the country, the former premier is in London with his sons — who, too, are accused. However, Nawaz is likely to still be indicted today as a representative on his behalf will plead the charges against him.
Maryam reached the Federal Judicial Complex from the Islamabad airport where she landed early morning from Lahore on a special plane.
Later, Safdar separately reached the court complex.
Speaking to the media while entering the court, Safdar said Nawaz will appear before the court [when the time comes].
Senior government officials, including ministers, are present at the court premises, where strict security arrangements are in place to avoid any untoward incident.
Moreover, Zafir Khan, who was nominated by the former premier’s legal team as the “pleader” — the person who will stand for Nawaz in court during his indictment — has also reached the court.
However, Nawaz’s lead counsel, Khawaja Harris, is not present in court and is being represented by Ayesha Hamid.
As the hearing went under way, Amjad Pervez, who represents the Sharif children, pleaded that his clients not be indicted until they are provided complete documents of the case.
Pervez argued that his clients have also not been provided Volume X of Panama case JIT report.
However, the NAB prosecutor opposed the plea. The judge will decide on the plea later today.
Moreover, Nawaz’s counsel, Hamid, also pleaded that until the Supreme Court decides on Nawaz’s plea for NAB to re-file a single corruption reference instead of three separate ones, the proceedings of the accountability court be suspended.
The judge then reserved his decision on the plea.
On October 13, the former prime minister filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking the quashing of the ‘concurrent’ corruption references against him.
The plea calls upon the Supreme Court to halt the accountability court proceedings of the three references against the Sharif family until a single reference is filed.
At the last hearing on October 13, the former prime minister did not appear in court as he was in London, along with his sons, to be with his wife who is undergoing treatment for lymphoma.
Judge Mohammad Bashir also approved NAB’s plea to declare Hussain and Hasan Nawaz proclaimed offenders and separated their proceedings in the three references filed against them.
A commotion by members of the legal fraternity on Friday forced the accountability court judge to adjourn proceedings minutes after they began.
As the hearing went under way, the lawyers began protesting inside the court for being disallowed to enter the premises by security personnel.
They claimed the Islamabad High Court has allowed lawyers to be present inside the judicial complex as well as the accountability court as “it is an open court”.
The lawyers also argued with the deputy attorney general and created a commotion, forcing Judge Mohammad Bashir to leave for his chamber and abort the proceedings.
NAB officials said that they were manhandled by the lawyers as well and the head of their prosecution team, Sardar Muzaffar, was pushed from the dais.
After Punjab Additional Advocate General Khawar Ikram Bhatti was caught on camera slapping a police officer outside the court premises, the Punjab government on October 16 dismissed him from service.
The NAB has in total filed three references against the Sharif family and one against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the accountability court, in light of the Supreme Court’s orders in the Panama Papers case verdict of July 28.
The anti-graft body was given six weeks, from the date of the apex court’s order, to file the reference in an accountability court while the accountability court was granted six months to wrap up the proceedings.
The references against the Sharif family pertain to the Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metals Establishment, their London properties and over dozen offshore companies owned by the family.
Maryam and Safdar are only nominated in the London properties reference. At an earlier hearing, the court also approved Maryam and Safdar’s bail in the Avenfiled properties case and ordered them to submit surety bonds worth Rs5 million each.
Safdar was also directed to take the court’s permission before leaving the country from now on. The judge also provided a copy of the reference — spread over 53 volumes — to Maryam and Safdar.
NAB’s Rawalpindi branch prepared two references regarding the Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metals Establishment, and the nearly dozen companies owned by the Sharif family.
Its Lahore branch prepared a reference on the Sharif family’s Avenfield apartments in London and another against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for owning assets beyond his known sources of income.
If convicted, the accused may face up to 14 years imprisonment and lifelong disqualification from holding public office including the freezing of bank accounts and assets.
