PHOTO: File
These references were submitted in line with the July 28 judgment of the Supreme Court in the Panamagate case.
A spokesman for NAB said in a statement that none of the four references had been returned. The matter, he said, had been referred for trial.
He was responding to media reports that one of the references had been filed without the required number of copies of documents. The reference in question was on Avenfield properties.
The registrar of the Accountability Court, Islamabad, Ahmad Mushtaq Qureshi, said Judge Muhammad Bashir had directed NAB to submit complete documents after it was found that the required number of copies of documents were not there.
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The registrar then directed NAB to file four sets of copies of documents containing evidence collected in the Avenfield Flats reference by September 12 (Tuesday).
Copies of two references – ‘Flagship Investment Limited and 15 other companies’ and ‘Al-Azizia Company Limited, Jeddah and Hill Metals Establishment, Jeddah’ – kept circulating on social media, demonstrating that NAB filed references against the accused based on material collected by the Panamagate JIT.
The references read: “It is established that the accused failed to justify sources of funds for establishment/ possession of assets and consequently pecuniary proceeds disbursed among each other.”
Documents also showed that the accused were given enough opportunities to provide evidence regarding accumulation of these assets, but they refused to appear before NAB’s investigators, contending they had challenged the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict.
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Requests for Mutual Legal Assistance had been forwarded by the JIT, and responses are still awaited from foreign jurisdictions. “Responses … will be placed before the court as soon as they get them. Under this scenario, this reference may be treated as an interim reference,” NAB stated.
Citing evidence collected by various authorities, the references stated that it had been established that the accused committed corruption in connivance with each other as defined under Section 9(a)(v) and (xii) of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) of 1999, punishable under Section 10 of NAO.
Documents cited the final investigation report compiled by the JIT and its annexure, list of witnesses and documents attached with the references.
NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry requested the court to punish the accused in accordance with the law.
The Supreme Court had given NAB until September 8 (today) to file the four references.
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The references were produced in several sealed boxes with different titles – ‘Avenfield Flats’, ‘Flagship’, ‘HM’ (Hill Metal).
All references were produced along with related documents for the registrar’s scrutiny. Once vetted, these reference will be forwarded to the accountability court for further proceedings.
In its July 28 judgment, the apex court had directed NAB to file references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his sons Hassan and Hussain Nawaz, daughter Maryam Nawaz, son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar within six weeks of the announcement of the judgment.
The four references had been prepared by NAB’s regional offices in Lahore and Rawalpindi.
The registrar is expected to place these references before the accountability court next week.
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