The Accountability Court hearing corruption cases against Sharif family members will record statement of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference under section 342 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) today (Wednesday).
Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Arshad Malik during the course of hearing of Flagship reference, filed against Sharif and his sons Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz, said that the court will start recording statement of the accused Nawaz Sharif in Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference under the section 342 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) on Wednesday.
The judge also observed that the court will write a letter to the Supreme Court seeking another extension in the deadline to conclude hearing of two references against the Sharif family. The court will send a letter along with the progress report of the cases to the apex court, he added.
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appeared before the court amid tight security arrangements. He was later allowed to go by the court. At the start of the hearing, the judge asked defence counsel Khawaja Haris about the matter of recording of the former premier's statement under the section 342 of CrPC. "Let us record Sharif's statement today (Tuesday)," the judge said. However, Haris said, "We should start recording Sharif's statement from tomorrow (Wednesday)."
Haris said, "Some of the questions are complex but we will resolve them. We will review the entire record of the case for recording statement; therefore time should be given till tomorrow (Wednesday)."
The court accepted the request of defence counsel. During the hearing of Flagship reference, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) witness and Investigation Officer Muhammad Kamran said that he had gone through the report of joint investigation team (JIT) that probed Panama Papers case before sending call-up notices to accused Sharif, Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz.
To another query asked by Haris, Kamran said that at the time of sending call-up notices to the accused, it came to his notice that Sharif had taken plea before the JIT that he had no nexus with the acquisition, ownership and business of any company owned by Hassan. The call-up notices were not sent with signature, he said, adding that the statement of the official who signed the call-up notices was not recorded, he said.
He said that before sending notices, the investigation team did not ascertain either accused Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz were living in Pakistan or abroad. "It had come to my notice through the JIT report that the accused Hussain had been non-resident since year 2000," he said.
The witness also said that it had come to his notice through the JIT report that Hassan had been residing in London since 1994 and he became a UK citizen in 2007. "I had also noticed that accused Hassan remained student till 1999," he said, adding that no person appeared before him said that the accused Hassan remained a student till 1999.
The witness said that investigation team provided addresses of Hassan and Hussain in the UK before sending notices. The investigation team did not send any notice to Hassan and Hussain on their addresses abroad, he said. He said that he had provided address of all the three accused in the case including
addresses of Hassan and Hussain abroad. "It has also come to my notice that none of the accused persons personally received the notice," he said, adding that the security officer of Shamim Farm, Jati Umra, Raiwind Road, Lahore, received the notices, he said. Later, the court adjourned the hearing till today.
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