LAHORE: The defence counsel on Saturday cross-examined two prosecution witnesses in the money laundering and illegal assets reference against the family of Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif.

During the cross-examination, a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor raised an objection when defence counsel Amjad Pervez asked Punjab Assembly Assistant Secretary Faisal Bilal, a prosecution witness, about his job. The prosecutor said the question was irrelevant.

However, Presiding Judge Jawadul Hassan overruled the objection and asked the counsel to continue the cross-examination.

Responding to the defence queries, Bilal said he had joined the investigation once to record his statement before the investigating officer. He admitted that the documents filed before the court relating to the salaries and perks of Mr Sharif and his son Hamza, the opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly, were not certified.

He said he personally verified the record of the salaries and perks of the duo from 1993 to 2020. However, he could not recall the exact year of the first stint of Hamza Shehbaz as an MPA.

The judge directed the NAB to produce certified record of the assembly relating to the payments made to the two suspects as parliamentarians.

The defence counsel also cross-examined a second witness, Tayyab Zawaar Bokhari, a deputy director of the election commission, and the judge adjourned hearing till Dec 16 for cross-examination of more witnesses.

On the request of the defence, the judge had permitted Mr Sharif to take a seat during the cross-examination as he was unable to stand for long due to a backache.

Jail Superintendent Ijaz Asghar filed a report of physiotherapy of Mr Sharif and told the court that all the required medical facilities had been provided to the suspect in light of the court’s order.

The opposition leader endorsed the superintendent’s statement, however, requested the court to constitute a medical board, also comprising his personal physicians, for the treatment of his “unbearable” backache.

The judge directed the opposition leader to file an application to the government first.

After the proceedings, Shehbaz Sharif also talked to his elder brother, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, and son Suleman over the phone.

In this case, Shehbaz’s wife Nusrat, son Suleman, daughter Rabia Imran and son-in-law Haroon Yousaf had already been declared absconders for avoiding their appearance in the proceedings.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2020