ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sha­rif’s lawyer on Monday app­ri­sed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) of “irregularities” in the Avenfield Apart­ments ref­erence prepared by the prosecution and said the Nat­ional Accountability Bur­eau (NAB) did not even know who owned that property.

An IHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb resumed hearing of Mr Sharif’s appeal against his conviction in the case.

Amjad Pervaiz, counsel for the PML-N supremo, started his arguments by referring to the Supreme Court’s order that formed the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and its subsequent decision to file references against the Sharif family and one against Ishaq Dar.

When Justice Aurangzeb asked whether the matter had been referred to the anti-graft watchdog for conducting a probe or filing references, the counsel replied that filing of references should be the prerogative of NAB.

However, he pointed out, in this particular case the apex court left NAB with no option but to file the references. He added that the fate of the matter would not have been the same if the anti-corruption watchdog was allowed to act independently.

Nawaz’s lawyer questions NAB knowledge of property’s ownership

He said a reference was filed at a time when Mr Sha­rif and his daughter were in the UK, looking after his ailing wife Kulsoom Nawaz. However, they returned to face the trial.

According to him, when the hearing concluded, both were still in the UK and decided to return to serve the sentence, leaving Kulsoom on the deathbed.

The counsel argued that NAB had filed a supplementary reference after six witnesses had testified before the accountability court.

“The reference was filed at a time when the loopholes of the prosecution emerged, and the defence of the accused persons had revealed,” he argued, adding that NAB had decided to overcome the flaws by filing a supplementary reference that could not be filed in light of several judgements of superior courts.

He went on state that the accountability court had indicted Mr Sharif in the supplementary reference without amending the charges framed in the initial reference.

Chief Justice Farooq remarked prima facie “neither the charges were framed properly, nor did the prosecution know the evidence,” adding the “evidence has been laid in hotchpotch method.”

He pointed out that the accountability court did not convict Mr Sharif of corruption, as he was convicted of not disclosing the legitimate sources.

The court adjourned further hearing till Nov 29.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2023