ISLAMABAD: The accountability court hearing the corruption references against the Sharif family on Thursday issued bailable arrest warrants for former premier Nawaz Sharif in two references.
As the hearing into the three corruption references resumed on Thursday, Nawaz Sharif’s senior counsel and representative Khawaja Harris pleaded before Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir that his client be excused from appearing before court owing to his wife’s ailment.
In response to which National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor remarked that Nawaz Sharif had to appear before the Accountability Court because his earlier exemption period of 15 days has ended and warrants should be issued against him to guarantee his presence in court.
Accountability Court Judge Mohammad Bashir asked the NAB prosecutor to keep his comments to himself stating that the court stands neutral and after accepting NAB’s plea, issued bailable warrants against the former prime minister in the Azizia Steel Mills and Flagshit Investment Limited reference cases.
It is pertinent to mention here that Nawaz Sharif has not submitted surety bonds in the Azizia and Flagship reference cases although he has submitted a Rs five million surety bond with reference to his Avenfield case.
The National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) first two witnesses belonging to Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and Federal Board of Revenue respectively were expected to have their statements recorded today but the process could not be done so due to unknown circumstances.
Later on, Khawaja Harris told the court that they have challenged Nawaz’s indictment in the Islamabad High Court and the court is set to hear the case on November 2.
Mohammad Bashir while responding to this stated that Khawaja should plead Nawaz’s case on November 2 and then we can resume the reference case hearing on November 3, thereby announcing the adjournment of the accountability court hearing till November 3.
A number of senior cabinet members namely State Interior Minister Tallal Chaudhry, Federal Privatisation Minister Daniyal Aziz, Senators Pervaiz Rasheed and Asif Kirmani along with senior PML-N party officials and NAB and media men were also present inside the judicial complex.
