RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court's Rawalpindi bench on Monday reserved its judgment on petitions seeking quashment of three corruption references prepared by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif and his family members, DawnNews reported.

The division bench of the LHC, comprising Justice Khwaja Imtiaz Ahmed and Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan, heard the petitions today.

During today's hearing, Khawaja Harris Ahmed, the counsel of Sharif family, and NAB prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar concluded their arguments after which the bench reserved its ruling.

The corruption references relate to the Hudaibya Paper Mills, Ittefaq Foundries and Raiwind assets.

NAB references against Sharifs

The NAB had prepared the references during the Musharraf regime in the year 2000 when the Sharif brothers were detained in the Attock Fort. On April 4, 2001, the references were adjourned sine die.

On Aug 8, 2007, the NAB filed an application for revival of the references. But the court did not proceed with the matter which was again adjourned sine die in Aug 2008 because it was not routed through the NAB chairman. Another application filed by the NAB in Feb 2010 was rejected on the same grounds.

In its references, the NAB accused the Sharifs of committing Rs642.743 million worth of corruption in the Hudaibya Paper Mills case.

The second reference – the state versus Nawaz Sharif, etc. – relates to the Raiwind assets. The main allegation is that the accused had acquired vast tracts of land upon which palatial houses and mansions were built with resources which appeared to be grossly disproportionate to their known sources of income. Apart from Nawaz Sharif, his mother is an accused in this case.

In the state versus Ittefaq Foundries case, Nawaz Sharif, Abbas Sharif and Kamal Qureshi are accused of committing corruption of Rs1,063 million. The main allegation in the case is that Ittefaq Foundries Ltd obtained cash finance from the National Bank.

According to the NAB, the company wilfully defaulted on the amount in 1994.