An accountability court Friday allowed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit new documents against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Flagship Investment reference.
After hearing arguments of Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Harris, Accountability Court II Judge Arshad Malik initially reserved his decision on the NAB plea. However, later the court rejected the reservations of Nawaz’s counsel and permitted the anti-graft watchdog to present new documents.
“NAB’s Zahir Shah had corresponded with the UK Central Authority and he has appeared before the court as a witness. Why were these documents not presented when Shah appeared?” Kh Harris said during the hearing while opposing the NAB plea. At this, NAB Deputy Prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi said, “We mentioned in the supplementary reference that we will provide documents after receiving answers.” “If they present new documents then they should also present related witnesses,” Harris responded.
“NAB has not mentioned the relation between the documents and the Flagship investigation. The court cannot assume on its own the relation between the documents and the investigation officer,” the judge remarked. “Why are these documents being presented eight months later?” he asked.
Earlier, Khawaja Harris submitted his client’s exemption plea. Nawaz Sharif could not appear before the court due to security issues and sought a one-day exemption from hearing of the case, which was accepted.
Published in Daily Times, November 10th 2018.
