Gulf News

Sharif denies shrine land transfer charge

CJ gives him week to decide which institutio­n should conduct probe into allegation­s

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Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday refused to accept allegation­s levelled against him for allegedly transferri­ng 14,398 acres of Pakpattan shrine’s land during his tenure as chief minister of Punjab in 1985.

Nawaz Sharif made the statement while appearing before a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Faisal Arab in compliance with court orders.

The former PM denied that he had not passed any order regarding withdrawal of notificati­on of allotment to an individual, Dewan Ghulam Qutab, in violation of a Lahore High Court order.

Nawaz Sharif told the bench that there was no record of the order he had signed in connection with the allegation­s, he said “this is a 32-year-old case. I do not remember any such order being passed.”

Chief Justice suggested to form a JIT to probe the matter; Nawaz Sharif, however, said that his experience with JITs had not been particular­ly pleasant.

Justice Saqib Nisar observed that it was not an ordinary matter, it was a matter of land worth billions of rupees,” and asked the former prime minister to suggest how he wanted the matter to be probed. Asking Sharif whether he wanted the National Accountabi­lity Bureau, the Federal Investigat­ion Agency or a JIT to investigat­e the case, the chief justice gave the former premier one week to decide which institutio­n should conduct the probe into the allegation­s.

Justice Saqib Nisar adjourned the hearing in the case by one week.

Auqaf land allotted

The former premier was accompanie­d by his defence counsel and senior Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) leaders. It is pertinent to mention here that Sharif who was the chief minister of the province at the time, had allegedly allotted Auqaf Department land around the Pakpattan shrine to an individual in violation of the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) order.

In October, the apex court directed Nawaz Sharif to submit a reply within two weeks related to the matter of withdrawal of notificati­on concerning the Auqaf property attached with the shrine of Hazrat Baba Faridud Din Masud Ganj Shakar, Pakpattan Sharif, which had taken place about 32 years ago, when the matter was sub judice in the apex court.

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