Accountability court approves change in Nawaz Sharif's exemption; disposes of Maryam's

ISLAMABAD -  The accountability court on Monday approved a plea filed by former prime minister seeking change in time period for exemption from appearance in the court, while rejected the same plea of his daughter Maryam Nawaz.

The court has now granted the exemption to Nawaz from December 5 to 12 as he wanted to go to London to visit his ailing wife.

In Maryam plea, the court said that the previous order will prevail. She wanted the exemption for a month from December 5, 2017 to January 5, 2018. The court had allowed her exemption from November 15 to December 15.

The former premier, his daughter and son-in-law appeared in the court twice on Monday.

As the judge Mohammad Bashir resumed hearing, Nawaz Sharif's counsel asked the court to adjourn hearing till the Islamabad High Court announced its verdict in a plea regarding clubbing the NAB references.

The court accepted the plea and adjourned the hearing till 1pm. After the court adjourned the case, former premier, his daughter and son-in-law went back from the court.

In a sarcastic reply to media outside the court regarding court's bias against him, Nawaz Said that it seemed even in disqualification case against Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen, he would be disqualified.

IHC Dismisses Plea

The accountability court resumed hearing after the IHC in his short verdict turned down an application filed by former prime minister seeking the merger of all corruption reference filed by the NAB.

A two-member bench, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, had reserved the verdict on November 23.

Witness

During the hearing, the judge directed NAB witness Malik Tayyab Ahmed, an employee of private bank to record his statement. He submitted details of bank accounts holds by Nawaz.

Later, the former premier appeared before the court once more alongside his daughter after which the hearing was adjourned.

Previous Hearings

On Nov 27 and 28, the court adjourned the hearing of corruption references against members of Sharif family without any proceedings due to his counsel's absence. Nawaz Sharif had also pleaded the court to suspend proceedings until the Islamabad High Court rules in a petition to club references.

 

NAB References 

The accountability court is hearing three references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against Nawaz and his family regarding London flats, Azizia Steel Mills and other companies in the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Panama Papers case.

Nawaz and his two sons, Hussain and Hasan, have been made accused in all three references whereas Maryam and her husband MNA Capt (retd) Safdar are accused in one case regarding London properties.