ISLAMABAD – The accountability court (AC) resumed hearing of mega corruption references filed against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in line with the Supreme Court directive in the Panamagate case.
Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz did not appear before the court after they were granted exemption from personal court appearance, while the son-in-law of the former premier Captain (r) Safdar appeared before the court.
The accountability court (AC) judge Muhammad Bashir resumed hearing of the three corruption references against the Sharif family.
During the proceedings, the court recorded the statement of two more witnesses, while prosecution witness Malik Tayyib who had recorded his statement in previous hearing was cross examined by Khawaja Haris, the counsel of Nawaz Sharif.
The former premier’s counsel appealed the court to delay the proceedings until 11am. The judge accepted the request and adjourned the hearing until 11am.
In the previous hearing, the court had granted one week exemption to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from personal appearance in the court.
Previously, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed three cases of corruption and money laundering against Sharif, his family members and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the Islamabad Accountability Court following the verdict.
The anti-graft body NAB had frozen the bank accounts and seized properties of Sharif and his family members to put pressure on them to appear before the court.
The Sharifs have denied any wrongdoing and have labelled the corruption proceedings against them as politically motivated. Two of Nawaz’s sons are also due to appear before the NAB court, along with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.