Sharif rejects JIT charge of hiding UAE employment

Pakistan's embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has admitted before the Supreme Court that he had obtained a permit to work in a company in the UAE. He rejected allegation of concealing his employment.

In a written reply submitted to the apex court on Saturday, Sharif said his employment with the Capital FZE and obtaining of work permit for it had been mentioned in his nomination papers submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) during the 2013 general election.

A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was constituted to probe the offshore business dealings of the Sharif family in 1990s. Its report said the prime minister was the chairman of Capital FZE and he had also obtained a work permit from the UAE government for the purpose.

The prime minister’s lawyers had initially denied that Sharif was the chairman of any offshore company.

In his fresh reply, Sharif told the Supreme Court that his son, Hassan Nawaz, was the "owner, director & secretary and the authorised signatory of the Capital FZE".

"Nawaz Sharif is not a shareholder, or director or secretary of Capital FZE," according to the reply.

The premier was only a "ceremonial office holder" in 2007 when he was in exile and had nothing to do with the running of the company or supervising its affairs, it said.