ISLAMABAD: Nawaz Sharif has received yet another blow from the SupremeCourt of Pakistan as his appeals to club the corruption references havebeen rejected.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Wednesday rejectedformer Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s in-chamber appeal to club three graftreferences against him into one.
Justice Nisar heard the plea filed by Sharif in his chamber today.
The petition has previously been rejected twice by the top court’sregistrar office and the CJP.
On Nov 16, Justice Nisar dismissed Sharif’s plea on grounds that the optionto review the Panama Papers judgment had already been availed by the formerpremier.
Previously on Oct 13, the appeal was rejected by the registrar office afterraising objections, while directing the petitioner to consult the relevantforum in this regard as Sharif had already availed a review chance in thecase.
The petition was filed through ex-PM Sharif’s legal team, stating thatfilling multiple references on a single allegation, possessing assetsbeyond known sources of income, is the sheer breach of Section 9 (a) (5) ofthe National Accountability Ordinance (NAO).
The petition pleaded for suspension of the accountability court proceedingsuntil the other three references were incorporated within a singlecorruption reference.
It asserted that holding several trials on a single allegation is violationof the defendant’s fundamental rights.
It merits to highlight that former PM was ousted by the Supreme Court inits July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case.
Nawaz Sharif has been complaining about dual standards of justice in thecountry following the court proceedings in three graft references.
Indictment in three references
On Oct 19, the NAB court indicted deposed PM Nawaz Sharif through hispleader in the three references.
It had also framed charges against his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-lawCaptain (retd) Muhammad Safdar in a reference regarding Avenfieldapartments in London.
The charge sheet was read out in the courtroom in presence of Maryam Nawaz,her spouse Capt (r) Safdar, and Sharif’s representative Zafir Khan.
Nawaz, through his representative, Maryam, and Safdar rejected the chargesby pleading ‘not guilty’.
According to the charge sheet, Maryam Nawaz was the sole beneficiary ofAvenfield apartments in London and she submitted the forged documents withregard to trust deed of the London properties to the Panamagate JIT, using‘Calibri font’.
It is apropos to mention here that the reference relates to the Avenfieldproperties (flats 16, 16-A, 17 and 17-A Avenfield House, Park Lane, London,United Kingdom).