Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir Tuesday said that a letter has been written to the Supreme Court for seeking another extension in the trial of corruption references filed against the Sharif family members by National Accountability Bureau (NAB). During the course of hearing, the judge said that a decision regarding NAB's request to record the statement of accused former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain Muhammad Safdar (retd) under section 342 of CrPC in Avenfield reference, will be taken after receiving the reply of the apex court with respect to the second extension.
The apex court in March last had granted a two-month extension, which will expire on May 12, to the Accountability Court to end the proceedings of the references. During the hearing, the judge also observed that the court would give a verdict on all three cases simultaneously. At the outset of hearing, Deputy Prosecutor General NAB Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi informed the court about completion of prosecution evidence against the accused in the Avenfield reference. He requested the court to fix a date for recording the statements of accused persons including Sharif, Maryam and Safdar under Section 342 of CrPC.
While objecting to the NAB's plea, defence counsel Khawaja Haris requested the court to record the statement of Wajid Zia, who headed joint investigation team (JIT) that probed the Panama Papers case, first in other two references - the Azizia Steel Mills & Hill Metal Establishment reference and the Flagships Investments reference. "Recording statements of the accused persons in Avenfield case before recording the statement of Zia would disclose his defence," he said.
Haris further said that the court in its earlier order had stated that following the completion of statement in the Avenfield reference, it will record Zia's statement. Under the law, Abbasi said that following the completion of testimonies of prosecution witnesses, the next stage will be the recording of statements of the accused persons.
Objecting to defence counsel's stance that recording the statements of accused person at this stage will disclose their defence, he said that all three cases are different from one another as well as different charges have been framed in each case. "When trial of all cases is separate then how will defence be disclosed due to recording statements of the accused persons?" he asked. The trial of all cases should proceed as per law and not as per the wishes of the defense counsel, he said.
He further said the main reason behind objection of defence counsel to recording the statements of the accused person is just to delay the verdict of the case. "This objection should not be raised again and again as the matter has already been decided by the court," he said. The counsel for Maryam, Amjad Pervez, told the court that the demand of a transparent trial is that the both sides be given equal time to present their cases, saying that the prosecution spent as many as eight months on 18 witnesses.
Haris said the apex court should give a three-month time for completion of trial of cases. To this, the judge responded that it is up to the Supreme Court to decide the timeframe of the next deadline. Following hearing of the arguments of both defence and prosecution, the court summoned Wajid Zia to record his statement in the Azizia Steel Mills & Hill Metal Establishment reference on May 10.