The accountability court judge said on Thursday that the Supreme Court has declared that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is not honest and trustworthy (Sadiq and Ameen) and after the verdict, the lawyer should satisfy the court regarding this issue.
The apex court was hearing a case in Al-Azizia reference, where former prime minister’s counsel Khawaja Haris gave National Accountability Bureau his counter-arguments.
Deputy Prosecutor NAB Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi, in his arguments, said that there is a disparity between the statements of Nawaz and his lawyer’s final arguments.
The NAB deputy prosecutor said that Nawaz accepted the documents presented by Hasan and Hussain and the assets, adding that the possession has also been proved.
Muzaffar said that there is no proof that Tariq Shafi was Mian Sharif’s ‘benamidar’ and it seems from the stance of the suspects that they had ‘benamidar persons’ in the 1970s as well.
During the hearing, Judge Arshad Malik told the lawyers of the former prime minister that the NAB will be presenting its stance in the case and the court will be hearing those today.
The NAB deputy prosecutor said that after the Supreme court’s orders, the NAB separately inquired the case. He said that Wajid Zia wasn’t the NAB’s officer and didn’t have the right to inquiry, adding that he was the ‘star witness’.
Muzzafar continued his argument, saying that the speeches of Nawaz were on record and will be presented on a relevant forum.
He said that it seems from the speeches that the former prime minister knew all about his matters. “For proving our case, the suspects have completed all the elements… The NAB has completed its responsibility and now the bar is on the suspects to prove otherwise.”
He said that the case is of ‘benami property’ and there no direct evidences in it, adding that as per the record, Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz were deriving benefit from the Al-Azizia/Hill Metal Establishment (HME).
Judge Arshad Malik said that Nawaz’s speech should not be considered political, to which the NAB prosecutor responded that the apex court also didn’t consider the speech political.
“There is record present of Dubai and Jeddah factories but Nawaz didn’t say in the speech that he has no link to the properties,” the judge said.
Abbasi said that Nawaz said that his name is not in the Panama Papers and he was related to the property hence he gave an explanation before the apex court that he was not related to the properties.
