In latest broadside, Nawaz accuses Imran of biting the hand that feeds him

The former prime minister and Maryam appear before an accountability court in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has accused Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan of ‘biting the hand that feeds him’.

Speaking to the media after the hearing outside the accountability court, Sharif said that it was a pity that after putting a family’s respect and prestige at stake, Khan has now gone into hiding, “he [Imran Khan] bites the hand that feeds him”. he added

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain retired Safdar appeared before the accountability court on Tuesday pertaining to a number of corruption references.

Expressing dissatisfaction at the way the proceedings were conducted, he asked the reporters if they were able to understand what was happening in the court. To which Maryam Nawaz said, “Nothing but a joke”.

The reporters replied that the witnesses were recording testimonies and that most of them admitted  the documents were neither prepared nor executed in their presence.

Sharif expressed concern that the print and electronic media should report the hearing as it is.

Earlier, responding to a question regarding Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri’s countrywide agitation campaign expected to start from January 17, he said that for the past four-and-a-half years, the PML-N government had been witnessing such movements and that it was quite normal for him and his party to face such movements.

Meanwhile, four prosecution witnesses – Sidra Mansur, Muhammad Tasleem Khan, Muhammad Zubair and Uzair Rehan – recorded their statements in connection with the three National Accountability Bureau (NAB) references against the Sharif family. However, one of the witnesses, Umer Daraz Gondal, could not appear before court due to illness.

The three references against the Sharif family are related to the Flagship Investment Ltd, the Avenfield (London) properties and Jeddah-based Al-Azizia Company and Hill Metal Establishment.

The former premier and his sons, Hassan and Hussain, have been named in all three NAB references, while Maryam and husband Safdar have been named only in the Avenfield reference.

Director Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Sidra Mansoor while appearing before the court as a witness in the reference pertaining to Al-Azizia Steel Company & Hill Metal Company, produced the record of Mehran Ramzan Textile Mills Limited.

To the defence counsel’s question that whether the SECP had a record of any transaction which could establish a link between the Al Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment, she said that the record that she presented before the court did not establish a link between the textile mill and the companies.

When asked whether SECP had any record related to the Al Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment, she replied that it was not in her knowledge. She further said that neither any document was prepared nor executed in her presence.

In addition, Mansur said that she could not say if SECP ever filed any objection regarding the mill without going through the record. At the moment, she said, she was not aware about any such thing.

The court while issuing summons for Gondal and two more witnesses, Nasir Junejo and Afaq Ahmed, adjourned the hearing till January 16.