NAB reference case adjourned till November 7

Court to take up case after the IHC decides on Nawaz's plea to combine references

The accountability court hearing a case against deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and his son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar adjourned the case till November 7.

During the hearing, Nawaz’s counsel had requested the court to adjourn the case and wait till the Islamabad High Court decides on combining the three reference cases against the deposed primer together.

The IHC on Thursday had set aside the accountability court’s order of October 19 and directed it to decide Sharif’s three applications afresh.

Agreeing to the request the court adjourned the case till next Tuesday, November 7.

The Sharif family had arrived at the judicial complex early Friday morning to appear before the accountability court for cases pertaining to references filed against them by the National Accountability Bureau [NAB].

The Sharif family left Punjab House amid high security and the judicial complex has also been placed under tight security with heavy contingents of Frontier Corps and police elite commandos deployed in and around the area, according to Express News.



Several PML-N leaders including Saad Rafique, Ameer Muqam, Raja Zafarul Haq, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Daniyal Aziz were part of the deposed PM’s entourage while party workers also arrived at the at the judicial complex.

The heavy security surrounding accountability court may be traced back to October 13 incident when unidentified individuals – who appeared to be activists of the PML-N lawyers’ wing – tried to mount a planned assault on members of the NAB’s prosecution team inside the accountability court. According to an investigation report, PML-N lawyers manhandled the head of NAB’s prosecution team Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi as they tried to take over the dais just before the case proceedings began. It stated that the head of the prosecution team was pushed around when he refused to leave his position.

The former premier arrived in Lahore on November 2 [yesterday] from London where he was visiting his ailing wife, Begum Kulsoom Nawaz.

Sharif is to appear before the court in connection with the references against him and members of his family filed by NAB on the directives of the Supreme Court issued in the Panama Papers case about offshore wealth. This would be his third court appearance since the trial began.

He appeared before the court on September 26 and October 2, while he skipped proceedings, despite being summoned, on September 19, October 9, October 13 and October 26. During the past month he was looking after his ailing wife who is under treatment in London. However, due to his continuous absence, the court on October 26 issued his bailable arrest warrants.