An accountability court Friday quashed a plea by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) seeking action against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz for allegedly submitting a bogus trust deed in the Avenfield case.Judge Muhammad Bashir returned the petition, saying it is not maintainable on the basis of the fact that Maryam has already an appeal against the Avenfield properties verdict pending in the Islamabad High Court.
During course of the hearing, NAB’s Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Khan Abbasi in his arguments told the court that when the verdict in the case was presented, the bench had said that the matter of the use of fake documents will be looked at separately. In response, Maryam’s counsel said that it is now overdue as the NAB was supposed to file an appeal over the matter within 30 days. “The bureau has taken more than a year while doing this job,” he argued.
Abbasi admitted the delay. However, he termed the appeal as a right thing to do. “It may be late, but it is the right thing to do,” he responded. To this, Maryam’s lawyer said one can’t always be right.
After hearing arguments from both the parties spanning around 20 minutes, Judge Bashir initially reserved the hearing and after almost two hours, he announced the dismissal of NAB’s application saying that ‘the matter cannot be taken further until the IHC gives final verdict on Maryam’s pending petition’.
The NAB in its plea had alleged that the trust deed Maryam presented in the Avenefield case was bogus and requested a trial against the PML-N leader for fraudulent documents.
In 2017, a Pakistani team investigating former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s alleged illegal offshore properties – flagged in the Panama Papers – released its final report that mentioned ‘Calibri’. That report surmised that some of the documents it received from Maryam were forged, as they used Microsoft’s ‘Calibri’ font, even when the font was not available for public use.
Security was on high alert in the federal capital and no one unrelated to the case was allowed to enter the court. Roads around the Federal Judicial Complex were sealed for traffic.
Dozens of party PML-N workers, however, gathered outside the accountability court as Maryam was on way to Islamabad from her residence in Jati Umra in Lahore. The Islamabad police arrested at least 17 PML-N workers who had gathered to show solidarity with their leader.
Speaking to media outside the court, Maryam Nawaz said she is willing to give five years to the government but people are not willing to. Reacting to a series of arrests of her party leaders, she said even if the entire PML-N is put behind bars, this government still cannot run the country. She further said the ruling party will be held accountable for its incompetence and failure to govern the country.
“Those who had paralysed the capital for 126 days should be ashamed of such acts. Their fear of Maryam Nawaz preceded my presence in the capital. If you were this afraid, you should not have gotten selected,” she said to another question, adding that the incumbent government has no power to bear the criticism because of its anti-public policies. “The people have rejected the selected prime minister and his government due to which they are now trying to suppress the voice of the people,” she said. “But, it is quite impossible for them to do,” she added.
While commenting on the judge video scam, Maryam questioned that why the judge was repatriated if the video was fake. She also declared recent shutter down countrywide strike by traders a result of the poor economic policies of the government.
Meanwhile, talking to reporters outside the accountability court, former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal, Marriyum Aurangzaib and some other party leaders lashed out at Prime Minister Imran Khan. While calling him a ‘selected prime minister’, Iqbal said that Khan, who was very proud to have won the 1992 cricket world cup, has even failed to properly run the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). “Due to failed policies of Imran Ahmed Niazi, Pakistan’s cricket team could not reach even in semi-finals in the recent cricket world cup,” he said. “Instead of portraying a good image of the country in international circles, PM Khan presented the country on each international platform as a ‘hub of corruption’ which has ruined the country’s repute in the comity of nations,” he added.
