ISLAMABAD – The registrar office of the accountability court sent back three references filed against the former ruling family by the National Accountability Bureau, here on Tuesday.
The references that were filed against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam, son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar and sons Hussain and Hasan were incomplete and so were returned according to sources.
The scrutiny of the fourth reference, related to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, is underway.
On September 8, the accountability watchdog had submitted a total four references against the Sharif family and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
NAB’s Rawalpindi branch prepared references regarding the Azizia Steel Mills and the nearly dozen companies owned by the Sharif family. The bureau’s Lahore branch prepared a reference on the Sharif family’s Avenfield apartments in London and another against Dar for owning assets beyond his known sources of income.
The references were filed in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28 decision in the Panama Papers case. The bureau was given six weeks, from the date of the court’s order, to file the reference in an accountability court while the court was granted six months to complete the proceedings.
References
A reference against Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz, Hasan Nawaz and Capt (retd) Safdar, relating to the Avenfield properties (flats 16, 16-A, 17 and 17-A Avenfield House, Park Lane, London, United Kingdom), has been directed to be filed by NAB.
“In preparing and filing this Reference, the NAB shall also consider the material already collected during the course of investigations conducted earlier, as indicated in the detailed judgments,” the court ruled.
The court also ordered the filing of a reference against respondents Nawaz, Hussain, and Hasan regarding Azizia Steel Company and Hill Metal Establishment.
A reference was ordered against Dar for possessing assets and funds beyond his known sources of income, “as discussed in paragraph 9 of the judgment”.
The court also ordered NAB to include in its proceedings all other persons including Sheikh Saeed, [nephew of Dar’s wife] Musa Ghani, [son of a retired officer from London Stock Exchange] Kashif Masood Qazi, [Nawaz’s friend] Javaid Kiyani and [National Bank of Pakistan President] Saeed Ahmed, who have any direct or indirect nexus or connection with the actions of Nawaz, Hussain, Hasan, Maryam and Dar, leading to acquisition of assets and funds beyond their known sources of income.
A reference was also ordered against Nawaz, Hussain, and Hasan regarding the companies mentioned in paragraph nine of the judgment.
The bench also gave NAB the option to file supplementary reference(s) “if and when any other asset, which is not prima facie reasonably accounted for, is discovered”.
