LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has rejected the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) petition to reopen cases against the Sharif family
A referee judge, Justice Sardar Shamim, had been appointed after another referee judge, Justice Sheikh Najamul Hassan, refused to hear the petition on May 1, 2013. The referee judge ruled that the references were politically-motivated and could not be reopened more than 12 years after their filing.
As per details, the Sharifs had borrowed Rs 970 million from different banks in 1992 for Ittefaq Foundries, Brother Steel Mills and Illyas Enterprises.
The Sharif family’s counsel, Ashtar Ausaf, said that his clients had paid back an amount of Rs5 billion, including mark-up, against the Rs970 million loan and hence there was no case of being a defaulter.
The NAB counsel said they did not want criminal proceedings and their only aim was to ensure recovery. However, the court declared the references null and void after hearing the arguments of both the parties.
