Sharifs fail to show up at graft hearing, reissued summons for 26th

ISLAMABAD: The accountability court on Tuesday ordered former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and other members of his family to appear in court on Sept 26, in connection with corruption references filed against them by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) after the accused failed to turn up at Tuesday’s hearing.

Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir directed NAB officials to dispatch the summons to the Sharif family’s London address after the NAB prosecutors told the court that they were not allowed entry into the Sharif family’s multiple homes and had to hand the summons to the security officers at each of the properties.

The prosecutor also said that Hassan and Hussain Nawaz had refused to receive the summons.

In response, the judge ordered the NAB official to get the summons delivered to the accused rather than having them sent to the security officers. He also told NAB to paste the summons outside the residences of the Sharif family in Lahore and directed the investigating officer to trace Hasan and Hussain’s London addresses.

“This is a criminal case and the security officer’s comment should have been brought on record,” said the judge.

However, the judge turned down the prosecutor’s request of issuing arrest warrants for the accused to ensure their appearance before the court.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Asif Kirmani, who appeared in court on the Sharifs’ behalf, said that the family could not appear in court as they had all gone to be with Kulsoom Nawaz who is recovering from surgery. He said Kulsoom is scheduled to undergo another surgery in the next couple of days, therefore an exact date for the family’s return cannot be ascertained.

Sources had earlier said that Nawaz Sharif and his children will not appear before the accountability court and are likely to skip all the proceedings of the accountability courts. Last month, the Sharif family and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had chosen not to appear before NAB after they were asked to join the investigation in different cases.

“The Sharifs are anticipating the outcome of these references, therefore they have no plans to appear before the accountability courts,” the source had said.

It is likely that the accountability court might issue bailable or non-bailable arrest warrants for members of the Sharif family if they did not turn up in court after receiving two summons.

Counsel for the Sharifs, Advocate Amjad Pervez did not confirm whether his clients had told him to appear before the accountability court or not.

Maryam Nawaz, who had led the NA-120 by-election campaign on behalf of her mother Kulsoom Nawaz for over a month, left for London on a foreign airline flight hours after her mother won the by-poll with over 61,000 votes.

Maryam and her husband, Capt (r) Muhammad Safdar’s departure has already triggered speculation that the entire Sharif family has gathered in London and may not return to face corruption and money laundering references filed against them in the accountability courts.

Talking to reporters outside the court, Sharif’s close aide Kirmani said that he had received the court’s summons in Islamabad the other day. Hence, he felt it was a moral obligation to be present for the court hearing and to apprise the judge about the Sharif family’s unavailability due to Kulsoom’s Nawaz’s illness.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawyer Faisal Chaudhry told reporters that he appeared before the court on the instructions of PTI chief Imran Khan.

He said the court should have issued warrants for the arrest of the accused and hoped that it will not take a lenient approach towards them in case they fail to appear at the next hearing.

Nawaz Sharif, his sons, daughter and son-in-law had been subpoenaed in three NAB references with regard to their flats in a posh London neighbourhood, Al Azizia Steel Mills and Flagship Company Ltd and other offshore companies.

The fourth reference was filed against Ishaq Dar under Section 14-c for possessing assets beyond the known sources of his income.

The national anti-corruption watchdog had filed the references against the Sharif family and finance minister in compliance with the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case.

On July 28, the apex court had disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and ordered the filing of references against him, his children and the finance minister in light of the Panama joint investigation team report.