ISLAMABAD: The accountability court dismissed Tuesday the miscellaneous petition, submitted by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, requesting for final arguments in all the three references against the Sharif family to be heard together.
Nawaz and his family members are facing three corruption references in the accountability court – Avenfield Properties, Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Flagship Investments – in which they are accused of money laundering, tax evasion and hiding offshore assets.
“You may challenge this verdict in the high court,” remarked Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir after dismissing the petition.
The court then ordered to resume cross-examination of Panamagate joint investigation team (JIT) head Wajid Zia in Al-Azizia reference.
In response to this, junior defence counsel Saad Hashmi requested a 15-minute break to discuss the matter with Nawaz’s legal counsel Khawaja Harris.
Earlier, Hashmi, who submitted the petition on Nawaz’s behalf, remarked that the National Accountability Bureau’s claims that the facts in all three references are different are “incorrect”.
“NAB brought Gulf Steel Mills, Qatari letter in all the references,” he said, adding that the witnesses in the references are also the same.
“The final arguments should be postponed till Wajid Zia and investigating officer record their statements in remaining two references,” the petition states.
All three references have been formed on the basis of Panamagate joint investigation team report, which was ordered by the apex court to probe assets of the Sharif family, Hashmi added.
