NAB court to seek another deadline extension for winding up probe against Sharifs

ISLAMABAD - The accountability court hearing the graft references against the Sharif family has decided to seek another extension to conclude the cases.

Accountability Court Judge Arshad Malik conducted the hearing of Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment references today as former premier Nawaz Sharif appeared before the court.

As the hearing started, Judge Malik and Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Haris exchanged remarks over recording statement of former premier under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The NAB court judge offered Khawaja Haris to record Nawaz Sharif's statement, however, Haris pleaded that the statement should be recorded from tomorrow.

“The questions are complex but do not have reservations to that. For the statement, we have to review the entire record and should be granted time till tomorrow,” Khawaja Haris added.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/sc-admits-nabs-appeal-against-suspension-of-sharifs-conviction/

Judge Arshad Malik accepted the plea and observed that the statement should be recorded tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the judge also clarified that the court has to write a letter to the Supreme Court regarding an extension in the deadline of the trial.

We will send Nawaz’s record along with the letter, he added.

The accountability court judge further remarked that the apex court would be apprised about the progress on the case along with the letter.

Let it be known that the NAB court was given time till November 17 to wind up the probe that stemmed out of the Panama Papers case judgment by the supreme court.

As many as three references have been filed against the former premier in line with the directives of the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case verdict – a decision that ousted Nawaz Sharif from the PM House in July last year.

The elder Sharif was sentenced to ten years in prison by the accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir, in the Avenfield reference. However, the conviction was suspended by a two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court.

Besides Flagship reference, another reference regarding the Al-Azizia steel mills has also been filed by the accountability watchdog against the members of the former ruling family, including Nawaz Sharif.