ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has hastily filed references against ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his children, without procuring the necessary documents from the foreign countries, ostensibly under pressure due to the six-week deadline set by the Supreme Court.

All three references filed against PM and his children make the availability of material evidence contingent on international cooperation.

The forth reference against finance minister Ishaq Dar, however, has been filed “on the basis of material collected by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and NAB.” The bureau, however, said that it would submit the additional documents in the form of supplementary references.

In the reference against Mr Dar, the bureau disclosed that it is still investigating the role of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Chief Executive Officer Saeed Ahmed, searching for evidence that may implicate him as a co-accused of Mr Dar in the reference related to his assets being beyond his known sources of income.

Bureau to submit additional evidence based on legal assistance requests already sent to foreign govts by JIT

The bureau also prepared a reference regarding the Avenfield properties against Mr Sharif, Maryam, Hussain and Hassan Nawaz, as well as retired Captain Mohammad Safdar.

The reference states: “JIT had initiated request for Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) to foreign countries, reply of which is still awaited which will be made part of supplementary reference as and when received.”

It stated that the bureau prepared the reference “on the basis of material collected by JIT, FIA and NAB till date” and it reserved the right to file supplementary references if and when any material evidence was received.

The second reference, regarding the establishment of “Flagship Investment Limited and 15 other companies” owned by Mr Sharif’s children, NAB alleged that Mr Sharif and his two sons “used these companies to acquire expensive properties” in the United Kingdom.

Regarding the production of documents related to these companies, the reference states: “Requests for MLA have been forwarded by the JIT and response of same (sic) is still awaited, which will be placed before this honourable court when received from foreign jurisdiction.”

A similar case is the final reference, the regarding Al-Azizia Company Limted, Jeddah and Hill Metal Establishment, Jeddah.

Here, NAB has again asked the accountability court to treat this as an interim reference, since it has yet to receive relevant documents from the “foreign jurisdiction”.

Though NAB has produced hundreds of reports, consisting of thousands of documents in 16 cartons, but sources said this was the same evidence already available with NAB and FIA.

The bureau provided this to the JIT during the Panama Papers probe, and then produced it before the accountability court along with the JIT report.

The bureau requested the court treat the JIT report as an integral part of the references.

A former judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Amjad Iqbal Qureshi, who is well versed with the accountability law, told Dawn that under section 21 of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), the bureau could seek international cooperation through an MLA request.

He said that the evidence available with the JIT, if not procured through MLA requests, would have no legal value and could not be deemed admissible.

The fact the JIT had already written to foreign governments seeking documents under MLA meant that the available record was not sufficient to convict the accused. Therefore, it can be surmised that the references were filed on the basis of available record, and that chances of obtaining the required documents are slim, at least for the time being, he said.

Former NAB prosecutor general Irfan Qadir told Dawn the Supreme Court did not give the bureau ample time to file the references.

He said that these references had been filed in haste, something that would subsequently benefit the accused.

Mr Sharif’s counsel Khawaja Haris Ahmed said that it was up to the bureau, as they could seek more time from the apex court to file the references after receiving the necessary documents from abroad.

A senior NAB official, on the other hand, said that the bureau had prepared a strong case against the Sharif family and Mr Dar.

He said that the bureau had informed the accountability court of the pending MLAs and has also reserved the right to file supplementary references following the receipt of required evidence.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2017