ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has sought money trail of Sharif family’s London flats in Panama Papers case.
A five-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, resumed hearing of the Panama Leaks case after two weeks on Wednesday and later adjourned hearing till December 6 (Tuesday).
Naeem Bokhari represented PTI in today’s hearing after senior lawyer Hamid Khan distanced himself from the case, while senior lawyer Babar Awan was also part of the PTI’s legal team.
During hearing, Naeem Bukhari pleaded that the Sharif family did not mention the exact date of setting up factory in Dubai, adding that he would prove that the factory was set up through ‘Benami’.
Bukhari said that Maryam Nawaz is the beneficiary owner of the London flats, adding that the trust deed between Maryam and Hussain Nawaz did not prove much. He argued that after selling 75 percent of shares, the Sharif family was still liable to pay Rs 6 million to BCCI bank.
Naeem said that Rs 27 million AED (United Arab Emirates Dirham) were paid to BCCI bank after selling the shares and Shahbaz Sharif represented his cousin Tariq Shafi in this agreement. He claimed that agreement for Dubai steel mills was inked on April 14, 1980 and Tariq Shafi sold 25 percent shares to Ahili steel mills for Rs 12 million AED.
He alleged the premier of lying on the floor of National Assembly as well as in apex court and claimed that London flats were bought during 1993-96 by the Sharif family.
The bench agreed that there were discrepancies in the Prime Minister’s speech in the National Assembly and the documents submitted by his children in the court.
Justice Ijaz ul Hassan said that according to documents submitted by the prime minister’s children, they invested 12 million Dirhams with the Qatar royal family. While in his speech the prime minister had said that this investment was used by the Prime Minister’s children, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said.
PTI’s counsel claimed that when Dubai factory was setup, Tariq Shafi was young and he was not given any money after the sale of Gulf steel mills. He asked the apex court to disqualify Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the basis of conflicts in his statements.
He went on to claim that Flagship Investment Company belonged to Hassan Nawaz. Moreover, a flat was recently bought by Sharif family in Hyde Park London but it was not mentioned in documents. He added that London flats were purchased by Sharif family before selling Jeddah steel mills contrary to the claims of Sharif family.
Naeem mentioned the date of birth of PM’s scions to which Justice Khosa replied that PTI should also provide the date of birth of Qatari Prince Hammad bin Jasim. He replied that the names of male members of Al-Saani family were much similar and so it was difficult for the party to find his date of birth.
Justice Khosa asked PTI’s counsel to prove that the off-shore companies were in possession of Sharif family before 2006.
The Supreme Court in its remarks said that the Sharif family had not presented documents for companies it had mentioned. In fact, documents had been hidden from the court, the apex court said.
“Why were the documents hidden?” the court asked Akram Sheikh, the prime minister’s lawyer.
“If you say that you are a shareholder, you will have to give evidence,” Justice Azmat Saeed remarked.
Meanwhile, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said that two signatures of Tariq Shafi did not match each other, to which Naeem alleged that Shahbaz Sharif actually signed the documents instead of Tariq Shafi himself.
Justice Ijaz Ul Hassan also inquired as to how factory in Jeddah was sold by the ruling Sharif family while Justice Azmat Saeed inquired about the money trail from Jeddah to London and from Qatar to London. He said that the court was interested in knowing the actual cost of London flats. Moreover, he said that the letter of Qatari prince was not attested.
Justice Azmat remarked that PTI urged court to accept the press clippings and inquired whether court should also accept what was being stated in those clippings regarding Imran Khan from last thirty years.
Justice Saeed said that Qatari prince mentioned about his elder brother but did not mention his name.
Justice Khosa remarked that it looked like Tariq Shafi was working for Mian Sharif. He also inquired as how Tariq Shafi transferred Rs 12 million AED to Qatar. He observed that all the documents related to Mian Sharif (father of Mian Nawaz Sharif).
Naeem Bukhari also took aim at the NAB chairman, saying that he tried to save Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He demanded stern action against the NAB chairman for being complicit in helping PM Nawaz.
The apex court has adjourned the hearing till December 6 and most probably Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf would be arguing again regarding the money trail and offshore companies of ruling Sharif family during the next hearing.