RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday approved extension of Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir’s tenure for third time.

Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir is currently hearing National Accountability Court (NAB) corruption references against the Sharif family and former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

In its July 28 Panama Papers case verdict, the Supreme Court ordered the NAB to file references in the accountability court against the Sharifs and Dar with directives to complete hearing within six months.

The hearings at the court are at concluding stage as statements of 29 out of 30 witnesses have been recorded. However, the top anti-graft body filed supplementary references against ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz, Captain Muhammad Safdar (retd) and Dar.

The extension to Judge Bashir could not be confirmed through independent sources as spokesperson for Ministry of Justice and Human Rights M Arshad said he had no information as he deals with the Human Rights Ministry only.