The accountability court hearing corruption cases against Nawaz Sharif and his family members has rejected an application filed by the ousted prime minister for clubbing together the three references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
After the announcement of the judgement, Sharif was called to the rostrum and the judge read out the charges against him. The former prime minister was indicted separately in each of the three references — he plead “not guilty” to all the charges.
While at the rostrum, Sharif expressed his concern that since the Supreme Court had given a six-month deadline for the references to be wrapped up, deciding four references in this period would mean each case gets just 1.5 months. However, the judge observed that the cases could conclude within the timeframe if heard simultaneously.
After the indictment, the court revived summonses for the prosecution witnesses — Sidra Mansoor of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and Jahangir Ahmed of Federal Board of Revenue — to appear at the next hearing.
The Sharif family members left the court after the hearing was adjourned until November 15.
The court had reserved its ruling on Sharif’s application on Tuesday after hearing arguments from both the defence counsel and the NAB prosecution.
Nawaz Sharif along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar appeared before the accountability court in Islamabad on Wednesday as hearing resumed into the references filed under the directives of the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case verdict.
