The Accountability Court hearing corruption cases against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family on Tuesday reserved the judgment in the Avenfield reference. It will be announced on July 6. Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir reserved the verdict in the Avenfield case after the counsel for Maryam Nawaz and her husband Captain Muhammad Safdar (retd), Amjad Pervez, completed his final arguments in the case. The court heard the Avenfield reference for nine months and 20 days.
Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz and Captain Muhammad Safdar (retd) have been nominated as accused in the Avenfield reference. The Avenfield reference is among the three corruption references filed against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his three children and son-in-law Safdar by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on September 8, 2017 following July 28, 2017 judgment of the Supreme Court.
The Avenfield reference is related to the Avenfield properties (Flat No 16 and 16-A, 17 and 17-A, Avenfield House, Park Lane, London, United Kingdom). The NAB after getting more evidence related to the case filed a supplementary reference on January 2, 2018. The court recorded the statements of 21 witnesses including Wajid Zia, head of joint investigation team (JIT) that probed Panama Papers case, Director General NAB Zahir Shah, the UK-based forensic expert Robert William Radley and solicitor Akhtar Riaz Raja.
The court indicted Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law on October 19, 2017. The former premier appeared before the court on September 26, 2017 while his daughter appeared on October 9, 2017 before the anti-graft court.
Nawaz and his two sons are accused in all three references whereas Maryam and Captain Safdar (retd) are accused in the Avenfield reference. The Accountability Court has declared Hassan and Hussain as proclaimed offenders.
Sharif, Maryam and Safdar recorded their statements under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in May this year after which the court invited final arguments from the prosecution and the defense counsel.
Earlier, Amjad Pervez in his final arguments in the Avenfield reference said that the documents which might have favored the accused were not included in the JIT report. The JIT had already made its mind to implicate the whole Sharif family in corruption cases, he said, adding that the JIT did not associate Lawrence Radley, who had purchased the Avenfield properties on behalf of the purchasers and Arena, a service provider in the investigation, which is a clear example of one-sided and partial investigation.
He further said that the JIT did not make any attempt to find out known sources of income of the accused. The counsel said that Volume-10 of JIT was sealed on the request of JIT, he said. He questioned why the replies of mutual legal assistance (MLAs) requests which had been received were kept confidential. "The replies of MLAs requests were kept confidential to cause prejudice to his case and mislead this court as well as the apex court," he said.
Pervez said that the JIT had sent MLA requests directly to Financial Investigation Agency (FIA) British Virgin Islands (BVI) by bypassing Foreign Office. He also said that the JIT also received responses to MLA requests directly, bypassing the Foreign Office while sending and receiving MLA requests created doubts over the transparency of the investigation.
He said that the letter sent by the FIA BVI did not bear seal. The FIA BVI used its seal and stamp while sending letters in its own country, he said.
Pervez said that Maryam has rejected FIA BVI letters before the Supreme Court, JIT and this court. She never accepted BVI letters, he said, adding that BVI letters are third-hand evidence.
He also said that director FIA BVI never stated that Maryam is the beneficial owner of the London flats. Pervez said the testimony of Wajid Zia as well as his documents is based on hearsay.
He said the government of BVI has rejected the request for an MLA sent by the JIT seeking information regarding the London apartments but the investigation team concealed this information in the JIT report.
Following the completion of the final arguments, the court directed the accused to ensure their presence on July 6 when the judgment in the Avenfield reference will be announced.
The counsel said that the prosecution has miserably failed to bring evidence to substantiate whether Maryam Nawaz and Captain Safdar (retd) are beneficial owners of the Avenfield properties.
Similarly, Sharif's counsel Khwaja Haris during the cross-examination of Al-Azizia Steel Mill case questioned Wajid Zia if the professional letter related to Gulf Steel Mill came to his notice during the investigation.
Zia said that it came to the notice of JIT during the course of investigation that there was a professional license related to Gulf Steel Mill issued in the name of Mohammad Abdullah Kayed Ahli and Tariq Shafi dated July 20, 1975. To another question, he said that as per the documents, the two partners were Ahli and Tariq Shafi.
Zia said the document was attested by the UAE Ministry of Foreign affairs and Consul General of Pakistan to the UAE. "I have not sent any MLA request for verification of professional licence," he said.
He said that workplace in the professional license is shop No 4741 owned by Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed. This document was also attested by Ministry of Foreign affairs, the UAE, Dubai court and consul general Pakistan, the UAE, he said.
Zia said that the JIT did not send any MLA request for verification of the notarization and attestation of this document as well. It was translated by Atlas Legal Translation and translator's name is mentioned as Ahmad Badran Badir, he said.
He said that it is correct the JIT did not attempt to contact Badran to verify his professional license and translation.
He said as per the document, the professional license was issued by Dubai municipality. The JIT did not send any MLA request to Dubai municipality for verification.
He said that there is a Land Rent Agreement in Arabic at page 72 of Volume-III of JIT report dated June 12, 1974. The Land Rent Agreement was issued by Rulers Office in the name of Tariq Shafi and Muhammad Hussain, he said.
Zia said that the JIT has sent the first letter to Qatar's Prince Hamad Bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani on May 13, 2017, asking him to attend the office of JIT along with relevant documents to verify the contents of his two letters. The witness said that he had used the word 'relevant' and not specified the particulars of the documents.
Haris questioned Zia, "Had you short-listed any documents for the Qatari prince to bring along with him?" Zia replied that the JIT did not draw any list of documents and material which the JIT members deemed relevant. "Did the JIT think that these letters were not written by Qatari prince?" Haris asked Zia.
Zia replied in the negative. He said that the Qatari prince in his second letter stated that he had already verified the contents of the two letters through his response to the JIT. The Qatari prince also stated that it was not possible for him to visit Pakistan due to unavoidable circumstances and that if the JIT is interested to meet him, it may visit Dubai. Zia said that the JIT accepted the offer of the Qatari prince.
The witness said that no questionnaire was sent to the Qatari prince. To another question, Zia said that it was decided by the JIT not to send a questionnaire to the Qatari prince.