NAB court again rejects Nawaz, Maryam's appearance exemption pleas

ISLAMABAD - The accountability court on Thursday rejected the pleas filed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz, seeking exemption from appearance in corruption cases.

Judge Mohammad Bashir has reserved its verdict earlier today while hearing the case regarding Avenfield case filed by the National Accountability Bureau in the light of the Panamagate verdict.

The former prime minister, his daughter and his son-in-law, Captain (retd) Safdar appeared before the court to attend the hearing when they filed the plea in order to go to London to visit ailing Kulsoom Nawaz, who has been undergoing treatment for lymphoma since late last year.

A medical report of Nawaz's wife, Kulsoom, was attached along with the request. Nawaz's counsel Khawaja Haris informed the judge that Kulsoom will be undergoing chemotherapy and her doctors have advised Nawaz's presence at the time of treatment.

In counter-arguments, NAB prosecutor Afzal Qureshi asked the court to not allow the accused as the cases against them had entered in concluding stages.

In February, the accountability court had also rejected the pleas filed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and family seeking exemption from appearance in corruption cases.

It is to mention here that the NAB had filed three interim corruption references regarding London properties, Al-Azizia Steel Mills, Flagship Investment and other offshore companies against members of Sharif family. The bureau recently filed supplementary references in all three cases as well.

Wajid Zia, a serving additional director of the Federal Investigation Agency who headed the joint investigation team (JIT) to investigation assets of Sharif family, also appeared in the court and recorded statement.