Deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said that Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan is habitual of taking orders "from the top" and people know very well what it actually means.
Talking to reporters informally inside the Accountability Court hearing corruption cases against him and his family members, Sharif referred to the recent statement of emir Jamaat-e-Islami Siraj-ul-Haq that PTI had voted for Sadiq Sanjrani in response to an "order from the top." He said that Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak either spoke the truth or mistakenly said that they got their orders from the top. But taking orders from the top does not mean taking orders from the Bani Gala as the entire nation knows what "taking orders from the top" means, he added.
He said that PTI claims to be the torch-bearer of a change in the country. "They brought a change and cast votes for arrow (PPP's electoral symbol) while following orders from the top," he alleged.
Sharif said that people of Lahore rejected PTI Chairman Imran Khan for the third time on April 24. Khan "escaped" from Lahore under the pretext of "taking an important wicket," he said.
The former premier said that people had rejected Imran in the 2013 general election and the results of the 2018 polls will be no different.
Sharif remained silent when he was asked whether he will go to the house of former Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to successfully persuade him.
Earlier, Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain Muhammad Safdar (retd) appeared before Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir in the Flagship reference amid tight security arrangements.
During the course of hearing, defense counsel Khawaja Haris completed cross-examination of Director General (DG) National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Zahir Shah.
To a question asked by Haris, Shah said the documents pertaining to the offshore companies were not shown in the G-section of MLA request, dated June 27, 2017. He also said that the documents related to land registry were also not mentioned in the same MLA request.
He said he was not present in the UK High Commission Islamabad when the documents were received on March 27. "He was informed on March 26 that the documents have been delivered to the UK High Commission," he said.
To a question, Shah said he was appointed as additional director NAB in May 2004. The recruitments of year 2004 in NAB were not challenged in the Supreme Court rather a suo motu was taken, he said, when the defense counsel asked him if he knows that the recruitments of year 2004 have been challenged in the apex court.
NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Abassi while objecting to the question said that recruitments do not constitute an issue and such questions may not be allowed to be asked from the witness in view of Article 145 of the Qanun-e-Shahadat (law of evidence) order 1984.
Shah further said all the recruitments, including of him, were referred to the committee by the Supreme Court. The matter is not yet decided by the committee, he added.
Haris asked Shah if he knows that a reference has been filed against three NAB officers including two DGs Khursheed Anwar Bhindar and Subah Sadiq and investigation officer Muhammad Shafiq. The NAB deputy prosecutor general again objected to the question and requested the court that such questions may not be allowed to be asked from the witness.
Haris again asked the witness, "There is an allegation against you that you leaked sensitive information and classified documents to DG Bhindar and had also advised him that NAB officer has committed technical mistake."
The witness said the said matter was assigned to him on the orders of Supreme Court to conduct a fact-finding probe with regard to the misuse of authority by the two DGs - Bhindar and Sadqi - and investigation officer Shafiq. The said report was submitted to the apex court after approval of the chairman NAB along with all relevant record as per the directions of the Supreme Court and that no document was ever leaked, he said.
Shah said that NAB has in its custody the recording of the conversation between him and Bhindar.
During the course of hearing, the NAB prosecutor informed the court that two more witnesses will record their statements in both the Flagship Investments and Al-Azizia Steel Mills references, while one witness is left to be recorded in the London flats reference.
The NAB deputy prosecutor general said that they want to present the Avenfield properties witness - investigation officer - first, to which Khawaja Haris objected that the defense had prepared for the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference because they kept on saying that they wanted to record statements in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference but now they are saying that Wajid Zia is not coming.
The court hearing the arguments of both defense and prosecution adjourned the hearing till April 30 and ordered to record the statement of investigation officer Imran Dogar in the next hearing of the Avenfield reference.
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