Sharif invokes immunity over assembly address

Former PM records reply to 44 out of 50 court questions

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif told the accountability court in Islamabad on Wednesday that his speech in the National Assembly could not be presented as evidence in any court because of Constitutional immunity.

Sharif personally appeared on the rostrum to give answers to the court’s questionnaire in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference. He said that the Al-Azizia Mills was established by his father and he never owned it.

The court had framed 50 questions for response by Sharif under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which gives the court power to examine the accused.



The former prime minister responded to 44 questions out of 50. He requested Accountability Judge Muhammad Arshad Malik to allow him time to answer five other questions after consulting his lawyers. During the hearing, the court gave him another questionnaire comprising 100 queries.

Recording his statement, Sharif said he had never been the owner of the Hill Metal Establishment, Gulf Steel Mill, Dubai factory and the Al-Azizia Steel Mills nor had he admitted to any connection with Al-Azizia Mills in his address to the nation as the prime minister.

He denied any connection with the sale agreement of the Gulf Steel Mills. He said that the Al-Azizia Steel Mills was established by his father Mian Muhammad Sharif. He added his father, till his death, had been an influential person in his family.



Denying any connection with his family business, Sharif told the court that his statement in the National Assembly on the family business was not based on his personal information but on that collected from his son Hassan Nawaz.

Referring to Article 66 of the Constitution – which says that a speech at the floor of the house cannot be challenged in any court of law – Sharif said that the transcript of his address in the National Assembly [on May 16, 2016] could not be presented before any court as evidence.

Sharif said he had declared his wealth and sources of income in his income tax and wealth tax returns. He added that he did not know about the assets of the co-accused during 2000-01, saying that he was the owner of assets worth Rs12,767,672.

About the wealth statements of Hussain and Hassan Nawaz, Sharif said he was not liable to give answers for his sons. He, however, admitted that money was transferred by Hussain Nawaz to his account in dollars and euros.

Answering the court queries further, the former prime minister said he had held several public offices in different tenures, including prime minister, chief minister, finance minister and opposition leader, adding that he did not hold any public office from 1999 to 2013 as he was in exile from 2000 to 2007.

During the hearing, Sharif’s counsel Khawaja Haris raised objection that some questions listed in the questionnaire were based on rumours, while a few others were ambiguous in nature.

The judge ordered that Sharif's statement be made part of court record. During the proceedings the judge allowed the former premier to leave the premises. However, Sharif returned to the courtroom after three hours and signed his 11-page statement before the court.

At one point, Haris sought to amend an answer provided by Sharif but the judge reminded him that it was the statement of the accused under Section 342 CrPC, therefore it could not be amended.

The judge said that if the questions were unsatisfactory, they could be dictated again and if the need be, they could be asked again. Later, the court adjourned the hearing until Thursday (today), when Sharif would continue recording his statement in reply to the remaining questions.