NAB accepted Nawaz Sharif request of exemption from personal appearance
05 December, 2017
ISLAMABAD: The accountability court on Monday accepted the request of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif seeking change in his period of exemption from personal appearance, whereas dismissed the same plea by his daughter Maryam Nawaz.
Judge Muhammad Bashir while deciding the pending pleas of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz allowed exemption to Nawaz Sharif from personal appearance from December 5 to December 12. However, he dismissed the same plea of Maryam Nawaz, who sought change in her exemption period already granted to her. The court ruled that the exemption period from November 15 to December 15 earlier granted to her already held the field.
When the hearing started on Monday, Nawaz Sharif along with Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Capt (r) Safdar was present in the court.
At the onset of the hearing, Khawaja Haris, senior counsel for Nawaz Sharif, requested the court to adjourn the proceedings as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) was scheduled to announce its verdict at about 01: 00 pm on the plea of his client seeking to club all the three references or at least two of them.
The court then adjourned the proceedings till 01:00 pm and directed its office to ask the IHC registrar to fax the copy of the judgment as soon as it is announced. Later, when the court resumed, it was informed that the IHC had dismissed the petition of Nawaz Sharif seeking to club all three references or at least two of those.
Khawaja Haris told the court that his client will arrive after a few hours. Later, when Nawaz Sharif along with Maryam and Safdar again appeared, the court recorded the statement of prosecution witness Malik Tayyab Ahmad, who is an employee of a private commercial bank. The witness submitted in the court the details of accounts and transactions statements of Nawaz Sharif.
The court adjourned the hearing till Tuesday, when two more prosecution witnesses will get their statements recorded against Nawaz Sharif.
During the hearing, NAB’s prosecution team was also present in the court.
The ousted premier has been indicted by the accountability court in three graft references filed by NAB against him and his children following the Supreme Court’s July 28, 2017 order in the Panama Papers case, which also led to his disqualification as prime minister.
Sharif and his sons Hassan and Hussain have been named in all the three references, whereas Maryam and Safdar have been named only in the Avenfield properties reference.
Meanwhile, the court on Monday also declared Hassan and Hussain Nawaz as proclaimed offenders in all the three graft references, as they failed to appear before the court even a single time.
|
