Hudabiya case: SC to resume hearing today

Hudabiya case: SC to resume hearing today

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court is scheduled to resume hearing today (Wednesday) of the Hudaibiya Paper Mills reference against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Mushir Alam and comprising of Justice Qazi Faiz Esa and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel will resume hearing of the case.

In the previous hearing, the Supreme Court, while hearing the plea for opening the Hudaibya case, had sought evidence of the money trail and other allegations.

The NAB counsel told the court that the accused had withdrawn their money before the foreign currency accounts were frozen.

Justice Mashir Alam remarked that documents concerned should be before them in the wake of such situation.

Justice Faiz Isa remarked that these are only stories that money has been shifted from here to there and the prosecution has to tell about the charge.

Earlier, the apex court rejected the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) appeal requesting the adjournment of proceedings till the appointment of its new prosecutor general. The office of NAB prosecutor has been lying vacant since Waqas Qadeer Dar retired in November.

The court clarified that the NAB cannot pursue the income tax case.

The court had also banned discussing the Hudaibya case in Live TV programs and ordered the PEMRA to ensure the implementation of the order.

The anti-graft watchdog had submitted an appeal in the apex court to reopen the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case in light of the fresh evidence disclosed in the JIT report.

The NAB urged the Supreme Court to reject Lahore High Court’s decision from March 2014 so as to facilitate further investigation of the scandal.

The anti-graft watchdog had declared Nawaz Sharif responsible for preventing the Bureau from filing appeal in the Supreme Court in Hudabiya Papers Mills case.

According to NAB officials, Nawaz Sharif influenced the Hudabiya Papers Mills case as a prime minister.