ISLAMABAD: Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Ashtar Ausaf Ali, appearing before a five-judge bench hearing the Panamagate case on Wednesday, pleaded that the Hudaibiya Paper Mills reference against the Sharif family should not be linked with the Panama Papers case as the two were of different nature.
Led by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, the bench told the AGP to assist the court on the matter it was seized with and not to become a party in the case when he insisted the Hudaibiya and Panama Papers cases were not linked.
“Stand by whatever story you have come up with. As AGP, you should assist the court without being a party to any side,” the court ordered the AGP, who is set to complete his arguments today as advised by the five justices.
Justice Saeed asked him why he was shying from the Hudaibiya case if the allegations in the case were false. “[And] if these allegations are true, why was the case buried,” he asked.
The PTI’s counsel Naeem Bukhari chimed in, “This is beside the point that 65 million dollars could not be brought back home.”
The Hudaibiya Paper Mills reference was initiated on the basis of a confession recorded by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in 2000 when he had conceded that he had played a role in laundering Rs1.2 billion on behalf of the Sharifs through fictitious accounts.
Earlier on Tuesday, the apex court inquired into the investigative steps that were taken into Panama Leaks case by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Board of Revenue after the matter surfaced last year.
During the case proceeding, Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh questioned FBR Chairman Muhammad Irshad as to when the concerned authorities contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over Panama leaks issue. He also asked that when notices were served to the owners of offshore companies.
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