ISLAMABAD: The accountability court conducting corruption proceedings against former premier Nawaz Sharif and his family resumed hearing Avenfield flats reference today.
The case, based on a reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28’s verdict in Panama Papers case, pertains to the Sharif family’s London apartments.
Nawaz Sharif and daughter Maryam on Wednesday reached the accountability court after being exempted from the last hearing.
Head of the Panama case joint investigation team (JIT) – formed to probe the Sharif family’s assets during the Panama Papers case in the Supreme Court (SC) – and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Additional Director Wajid Zia will continue to be cross-examined by Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Harris.
Zia is being cross-examined since the last few hearings after having recorded his statement earlier over several weeks.
At the last hearing, the court directed Wajid Zia to approach the Supreme Court for obtaining the JIT report’s Volume 10.
The court had issued these directives after Nawaz Sharif’s defence counsel Khawaja Harris requested the court to direct Wajid Zia to unseal volume 10 of the JIT report.
The volume, a part of the JIT report submitted by Zia’s team, was sealed on the orders of the Supreme Court earlier.
At an earlier hearing, the court was informed by Wajid Zia that the probe in the Avenfield reference case was limited to the documents provided to the JIT by the Supreme Court.
“The documents provided by the SC included constitutional petitions, multiple CMAs and the petitions and responses filed against the Sharif family,” Zia had told the court.
Nawaz Sharif’s counsel Khawaja Harris was trying to point towards the fact that the land-rent agreement, professional licenses and the premises where the factory was set up were not investigated.
