ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Thursday summoned the relevant part of the Joint Investigation Team report’s Volume-10 on the request of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and JIT head Wajid Zia.

Judge Arshad Malik issued the order during the cross-examination of Mr Zia by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s counsel Khawaja Haris in the Flagship Investment and Al-Azizia/Hill Metal Establishment (HME) references.

The counsel asked Mr Zia if the JIT, which was constituted in the Panama Papers case, had sent any mutual legal assistance request to Saudi Arabia for obtaining audited financial statement or annual audited accounts of HME.

Mr Zia said he had to check the record which was in the JIT report’s sealed Volume-10 and he required court’s orders for obtaining the same from the Supreme Court.

Mr Haris posed various questions to Mr Zia, who refrained from answering them, saying that the lawyer was asking technical questions which he would only answer based on his general knowledge so there could be mistakes.

During the hearing, Mr Haris claimed that the accountability court judge had changed a sentence in Mr Zia’s statement on the request of NAB deputy prosecutor general Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi.

The court adjourned the hearing till Monday.

Meanwhile, the Adiala jail authorities sought exemption for Nawaz Sharif’s appearance in the court on Friday, citing security threats due to a protest launched by the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan against a blasphemous cartoon contest in the Netherlands.

Earlier, Nawaz Sharif was brought to the court amid tight security.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2018