Hudaibiya Papers Mills Case fixed for hearing
Shares
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday will commence hearing of the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) appeal to reopen the controversial Rs1.2 billion Hudaibya corruption reference, said to be the Sharif family’s Achilles heel.
Justice Mushir Alam will head the three-judge special Supreme Court bench, comprising Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel. Justice Alam has been appointed in place of Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who had recused himself from the bench assigned to hear the case.
At the previous hearing on Nov 21, Justice Khosa had expressed bewilderment over the court office’s reasoning behind its decision to fix the case before him. He wondered whether the office had even read the Supreme Court’s April 20 verdict in the Panama Papers case, in which Justice Khosa had authored 14 paragraphs on the Hudaibya Paper Mills reference. His minority opinion had included orders to NAB, requesting them to proceed against former finance minister Ishaq Dar, who had first appeared as a prosecution witness in the case.
The Sharifs are accused of setting up the mills to launder money under the cover of Economic Reform Act 1992.
