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IHC rejects Nawaz’s plea to club three NAB references

IHC rejects Nawaz’s plea to club three NAB references
December 4, 2017
ISLAMABAD (92 News) – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has on Monday rejected the application of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to club three references into one filed against him and his family members by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in line with the Supreme Court directive. The former prime minister had moved Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the Accountability Court’s orders to club together three corruption references filed against him. The case was heard by a two-member bench, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani. The accountability court had earlier dismissed Nawaz's plea seeking the clubbing of three references into one, which was later challenged in the IHC. Previously, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed three cases of corruption and money laundering against Sharif, his family members and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the Islamabad Accountability Court following the verdict. The anti-graft body NAB had frozen the bank accounts and seized properties of Sharif and his family members to put pressure on them to appear before the court. The Sharifs have denied any wrongdoing and have labelled the corruption proceedings against them as politically motivated. Two of Nawaz’s sons are also due to appear before the NAB court, along with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. Nawaz was disqualified by the Supreme Court in July for not declaring a source of income that he disputes receiving. Pakistan’s top court also ordered a wide-ranging NAB investigation and trial into Sharif family members. The Supreme Court specified that the trial be concluded within six months by NAB, which has in the past been derided as toothless because rich and powerful politicians were seldom convicted.