Verdict in NAB cases vs Sharif on Monday
islamabad — An accountability court on Wednesday reserved its judgment in graft references pertaining to the Flagship Investment and Al Azizia Steel Mills against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and decided to announce it on December 24.
The accountability court had indicted Sharif in the said references for holding assets beyond his known sources of income in August 2017.
The accountability court announcement came after the defence and prosecution sides concluded their arguments on certain points related to the case.
The court rejected the request of Nawaz Sharif ’s lawyer Khawaja Haris seeking one-week time to submit additional documents.
Judge Arshad Malik told Haris that he could submit the documents latest by Monday.
The former prime minister was also present in the court. The case has been filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the Sharif family.
During the hearing, NAB prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi
said the joint investigation team (JIT) was not constituted to investigate any crime, rather its responsibility was to find answers for questions raised by the Supreme Court during the Panama Papers case.
Earlier, Khawaja Haris contended that his client never accepted the allegation of receiving a salary from the Capital FZE Company.
The apex court had declared this ‘non-receiving salary’ as an asset,
he maintained. The purpose of employment in the company was just to use it for UAE visa, he said.
The judge said if the court accepted the defence’s stance on company’s employment then what was its connection with the graft reference.
Haris said Nawaz Sharif was proved as only employee of the Capital FZE, and not the owner of the company.
The defence lawyer also requested the court to grant extra time to present additional documents in favour of his client.
However, the request was turned down on prosecution’s opposition, who claimed it was just an attempt to delay the proceedings.
The judge told both sides that any additional documents could be submitted in the court by December 21.
Sharif told the court he hoped justice would prevail and that no corruption could be proved against him.
Thanking his party members and leaders for coming to the court to support him, the former premier noted that it was his 78th court appearance in the case.
In the Al Azizia reference, 22 witnesses recorded their statements, while in the Flagship reference, 16 witnesses recorded their statements.
On December 7, the Supreme Court had directed the accountability court to conclude the cases by December 24, after previously granting it seven extensions to wrap up the references initiated by the NAB.