ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) executive board on Thursday decided to file three corruption references against members of the Sharif family and one against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar today (Friday) in the accountability courts at Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
The meeting held at NAB headquarters was chaired by Qamar Zaman Chaudhry and attended by deputy chairman, prosecutor general, director general (operations) and other senior officials.
A press statement issued by NAB said the meeting was held in compliance with the Supreme Court’s July 28, 2017 judgment in the Panama papers case. It was decided to file four references in the accountability courts at Islamabad and Rawalpindi, it said, adding the references were prepared on the basis of the material collected and referred to by the joint investigation team (JIT) in its report and any other material collected by the NAB during the course of investigation.
It said three references were approved against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members during the meeting.
First reference relates to the Avenfield Properties (Flat No 16 and 16-A, 17 and 17-A Avenfield House, Park Lane, London, United Kingdom).
The second reference relates to establishment of Azizia Steel Company and Hill Metal Company, Jeddah.
The third reference relates to Flagship Investment Limited and 15 other companies.
The fourth reference was approved by NAB against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. It relates to possessing assets beyond known sources of income.
According to the statement, the NAB chairman appreciated the work done by Lahore and Rawalpindi regions for completing the assigned task within the stipulated time. The chairman directed that the prosecution of the cases be followed up vigorously in the accountability courts concerned.
Sources said copies of the four approved references, two each, have been sent to the NAB’s regional offices in Rawalpindi and Lahore. The bureau has also informed Supreme Court’s Justice Ijazul Ahsan, who is the monitoring judge in the case, of their intent to file the references in the accountability courts by today (Friday)- the deadline set by the apex court.
NAB’s regional office in Rawalpindi has prepared references pertaining to Azizia Steel Mills and nearly a dozen companies owned by the Sharif family. Whereas, the bureau’s regional office in Lahore prepared a reference on the Sharif family’s Avenfield apartments in London and another against Ishaq Dar for possessing assets beyond his known sources of income.
Sources said NAB has decided not to reopen Hudaibiya Paper Mills case as the apex court’s order about it was ‘unclear’ and has sought legal assistance over the matter.
Awami Muslim League’s head Sheikh Rasheed has also filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the NAB to reopen the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case and the petition is pending adjudication. According to the JIT report, NAB is presently investigating 28 different cases against the Sharif family.
After the Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif as prime minister in its July 28, 2017 verdict, it ordered NAB to file references against Nawaz Sharif, his children Hussain, Hasan, and Maryam, son-in-law MNA Capt (r) Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
The court gave NAB six weeks to file the references and the accountability court six months to wrap up proceedings in the high-profile case. The court also gave NAB the option to file supplementary reference(s) ‘if and when any other asset, which is not prima facie reasonably accounted for, is discovered’.
Nawaz Sharif, his children, son-in-law and Ishaq Dar have already filed review petitions against the apex court’s verdict in the Panama Papers case, which are also pending adjudication.
Published in Daily Times, September 8th 2017.
