ISLAMABAD: The accountability court on Monday reserved its verdict on a plea by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif seeking to club all three graft references filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in compliance with the Supreme Court’s July 28, 2017 orders in the Panama Papers case.
After hearing Khawaja Haris, senior counsel for Nawaz Sharif, and NAB prosecutor Wasif Malik at length, judge Muhammad Bashir reserved the verdict, which is expected to be announced today (Wednesday).
Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Capt (r) Safdar appeared before the court. In his arguments, Khawaja Haris, while reading the charge-sheet, stated that the nature of all the three references, their defence and even the prosecution was same, thus they should be clubbed and heard as a single one. He said the regular proceedings of the case could only be advanced once the matter of clubbing of the references was settled.
He argued that multiple trials on the same charges were not transparent. Citing the NATO containers case, he said 49 references were clubbed into single one. He argued that although the references pertained to different assets, however the accused person was the same. He stated that 13 and 9 witnesses were named in the references pertaining to Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Flagship Investment Ltd respectively,
adding that six witnesses were common in both the references, whereas three witnesses were common in the Avenfield properties reference.
He argued that if a same witness was allowed to testify in multiple references, he might alter his statement by getting enough time, adding that if the references were not clubbed, even then a single trial should be conducted against the accused.
He said majority of the contents of all the three references were common and every reference was silent about the allegations against the accused.
He stated that one sentence should be announced even if his client is found guilty after trial of the main reference.
Referring to the JIT report, he said the report stated that the London apartments belonged to the Sharif family, however it did not mention the name of any member of the Sharif family. To a court query, he stated that if the references were clubbed, the court would be required to again indict Nawaz Sharif, Maryam and Safdar.
Meanwhile, the court took a 15-minute break, allowing the accused to leave the courtroom. Nawaz Sharif, Maryam and Safdar, however, left the courtroom only after their counsel concluded his arguments.
In his arguments, the NAB prosecutor contended that each reference had its own facts and figures, thus the references could not be clubbed. He said the references were filed separately due to different charges of different natures, however the primary accused was the same in all the references.
To a court query, he said although the witnesses were common in all the references, however they had to present different documents. He said each accused has an individual role in each asset.
He said only one transaction came to the country in the Flagship reference, whereas many transactions came in Al Azizia reference.
He said Hassan Nawaz was the primary front man in the Flagship Investment reference, whereas Hussain Nawaz was the primary front man in Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference, thus the references could not be clubbed.
He argued that since the accused Hassan and Hussain Nawaz did not join the proceedings, the references could not be clubbed on the plea of a single accused.
Meanwhile, Maryam and her husband Safdar also filed an application before the court seeking a change in their indictment on the grounds that their charge-sheet mentions submission of a ‘false’ document, in which the Calibri font was used. The court will take up their fresh plea today (Wednesday).
Nawaz Sharif was received by a number of cabinet members and PML-N leaders at the court’s entry point, where he reached along with Maryam and Safdar in a motorcade consisting of over 30 vehicles.
Published in Daily Times, November 8th 2017.
