Twin references: Nawaz Sharif and others cleared of corruption charges

Accountability court dismisses NAB plea to reopen Hudaibia Paper Mills, Raiwind Assets references


Obaid Abbasi September 20, 2014

RAWALPINDI: A Rawalpindi accountability court on Friday cleared Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in two corruption references.

Acquitting the premier and his family members, Accountability Judge Anwar Ahmed rejected a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) application which sought the revival of over a decade old corruption references pertaining to Hudaibia Paper Mills and Raiwind Assets.

Prime Minister Nawaz, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, their deceased father Mian Muhammad Sharif, their mother Shamim Akhtar, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Nawaz’s wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, Hamza Shehbaz, Hussain Nawaz, Mian Abbas Sharif, Sabiha Abbas, Maryam Safdar and Hudaibia Paper Mills company secretary Syed Ajmal Sibtain were named in the reference.

On April 4, 2001, while the Sharifs were in exile in Saudi Arabia, proceedings of the two references were adjourned indefinitely.

NAB filed an application to revive the references in 2011, but was denied its request by the Lahore High Court (LHC) in May this year.

The LHC quashed the Hudaibia Paper Mills and Raiwind Assets references after accepting a petition from the Sharifs and observed that the bureau had not given the premier’s family a proper opportunity to justify themselves.

The accountability court dismissed the NAB application in light of the LHC order.

The Hudaibia Paper Mills reference accuses members of the Sharif family and others of depositing money earned by illegal means in bank accounts opened in other people’s names, and using the finances to pay off loans.

The Raiwind Assets reference accuses them of building palatial houses on vast tracts of land using finances disproportionate to their known sources of income.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20th, 2014.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ