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NAB references: Court adjourns hearing against Sharif family until Dec 4

NAB references: Court adjourns hearing against Sharif family until Dec 4
November 28, 2017
ISLAMABAD (92 News) – The accountability court has on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) references against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family until Monday (December 4) due to unavailability of Khawaja Haris, the counsel of Sharif family. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif accompanied by his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (r) Safadr appeared before the accountability court (AC) in mega corruption references filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in line with the Supreme Court directive in the Panamagate case. Nawaz Sharif had appeared before the court for the seventh time. The accountability court (AC) judge Muhammad Bashir resumed hearing of the three corruption references against the Sharif family. During the proceedings, the junior counsel of the former PM submitted an application in the court to adjourn hearing until the decision of Islamabad High Court (IHC) is announced on a petition to club three references into one. On November 23, the IHC had reserved its verdict on a petition by Sharif to club the references against him. The NAB prosecutor raised objection saying the proceedings could not be suspended as the IHC had not issued stay order. The counsel of Cpt (r) Safdar said that the IHC is expected to announce the verdict this week and in case of delay, the court proceedings could be held on three consecutive days. The court while accepting Nawaz Sharif’s application adjourned the hearing until December 04. In the previous hearing, four more witnesses recorded their statements after two witnesses recorded their statements at the last hearing and were cross-examined. Khawaja Harris, the counsel of the former premier cross-examined three witnesses. 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.