Court postpones decision on NAB’s request

FAZAL SHER

ISLAMABAD: The Accountability Court hearing corruption cases against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his sons Thursday postponed decision on National Accountability Bureau’s request to record Sharif’s statement under the section 342 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference till today (Friday).

During the hearing of the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference, Prosecutor NAB Waqas Malik requested the Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Arshad Malik to fix the date for recording the statement of Sharif under section 342 of CrPC.

On this, the judge told the NAB prosecutor to first make statement about completion of evidence in the Al-Azizia reference.

At the start of hearing, defense counsel Khawaja Haris filed an application before the court seeking a one-day exemption of Sharif from making personal appearance before it, which the court approved.

While objecting to the NAB’s request, Khawaja Haris said, “We are requesting from the day first to decide both the cases simultaneously.” He said earlier it was agreed that the statement of prosecution witness Wajid Zia would be recorded in the Flagship reference after the completion of statement and cross-examination of witnesses in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference.

“When the court has to decide both the cases simultaneously then why the statement of Sharif should be recorded first in one reference under the section 342 of CrPC. If the decision in both the cases has to be made separately then it is a different issue,” Haris argued. He said why the prosecution wants to complete proceedings in one reference first.

Waqas Malik said that the court can fix dates for recording the statement of Sharif under the section 342 of CrPC if it wants to do so. The court had asked 147 questions from the accused in the Avenfield reference, he said, adding that recording the statement of the accused under section 342 of CrPC will consume more time.

He said the prosecution will tell the court about closure of evidence in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference on Friday.

The court after hearing the arguments adjourned the hearing of the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference and postponed decision on the NAB’s request to record statement of Sharif under section 342 of CrPC till today (Friday).

The court also summoned prosecution witness and head of joint investigation team (JIT) that probed the Panama Papers case, Wajid Zia for recording his statement in the Flagship reference.