ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Tuesday adjourned hearing until Dec 4 of the graft references filed against the ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in law Capt (r) Muhammad Safdar due to the engagements of their senior counsel Khawaja Haris Ahmad in the Supreme Court. During the hearing, Nawaz Sharif said that his senior counsel Khawaja Haris was not available due to his engagements in the apex court. He requested the court to suspend the trial or adjourn the hearing until the Islamabad High Court (IHC) gives its detailed decision on his plea seeking to club all references or at least two of them, into one, or a joint trial of the multiple references. He also filed a fresh plea seeking to adjourn the hearing, stating that the IHC did not announce a short order and would give a detailed verdict on his plea to avoid confusion, thus the proceedings may be adjourned until the IHC hands down its detailed judgment.
The NAB prosecutor, Sardar Muzaffar Abbas, however, objected to the request of ousted premier, stating that the IHC did not issue any stay order, thus the hearing could not be adjourned on this very ground. He also stated that he had to produce two prosecution witnesses for recording of their statements. He requested the court to record the statements of witnesses, as one of the witnesses had recorded almost half of his statements during the last hearing, thus should be allowed to complete it today (Tuesday). The court; however, rejected the prosecutor’s request and adjourned the hearing until Dec 4. Maryam Nawaz and Capt (r) Muhammad Safdar were also present in the court. Earlier on November 23, the IHC had reserved its verdict on the petition of ousted premier seeking to club all three references against him into one and suspension of the subsequent trial before the accountability court until the decision is announced by the IHC. Nawaz Sharif and his sons, Hassan and Hussain Nawaz, had been named in all three NAB references, while Maryam and Safdar had named only in the Avenfield reference. According to reports, heavy protocol escorted Nawaz Sharif from Islamabad Airport, where he reached from Lahore, to the accountability court. When Nawaz Shraif along with Maryam and Safdar reached the accountability court at about 8:30am amid tight security, he was received by the cabinet members, PML-N leaders and workers.
Published in Daily Times, November 29th 2017.
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