Sharifs get to keep their assets

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the release of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Nawaz Sharif and his family’s assets.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was hearing NAB’s plea against the release of Sharifs’ assets by the Lahore High Court. During the hearing, the court held that NAB could not take hold of their property against their sentence. The court noted that Nawaz’s sentence was over, thus NAB had no right to seize assets and property of the Sharif family. Dismissing NAB’s plea, the court held that NAB had failed to produce before the court any agreement on handing over the properties of Sharif family to it (NAB). Appearing on notice, NAB Prosecutor General KK Agha presented an agreement signed between Nawaz and the government. The chief justice noted that neither it was mentioned in the document that the assets of the Sharif family would be surrendered to NAB, nor it had signatures of the Sharif family.
The court told Agha to submit in court any legal document about handing over the properties of the Sharif family to NAB. However, Agha submitted that the anti-terrorism court had awarded sentence to the Sharif family and fined them. The court then observed that the cases in which the Sharif family was awarded sentences were evicted in appeal. Later, the court upheld the Lahore High Court verdict and dismissed NAB’s appeal. In December last year, NAB had challenge before the Supreme Court the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) October 4, 2011 verdict of releasing the assets of the Sharif family. The Lahore High Court had directed NAB to return the Sharifs’ share certificates worth Rs 100 million, prize bonds worth Rs 115 million, documents pertaining to land in Murree, Chaudhry Sugar Mills, Hudabiya Engineering Services, Hamza Shipping Corporation and Ramzan Sugar Mills, saying NAB had no authority to seize the property of a citizen after his acquittal in cases.