Even after the lapse of three months since the Sharif family’s trial began in an accountability court, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has yet to submit copies of the Panamagate Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report.
Till now, the entire trial had been conducted with the help of unattested photocopies of the mentioned report. Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer Khawaja Haris highlighted this fact during Tuesday’s hearing of the case and said that the record submitted by the prosecution was not original due to which it was not admissible in the court per law.
Another defence counsel Amjad Pervaiz said during the hearing that the NAB had obtained the documents “for filing of reference only”, and it was up to the court to decide the validity of the record.
The requisition form submitted by the NAB showed that the bureau had requested the Supreme Court to hand over the JIT report and relevant documents. The form also carried an application that sought “short leave for urgent work” and “Criminal Branch”. The application was dated November 16, 2016.
Operations Division Additional Director (coordination) Shakeel Anjum Nagra while recording his statement on Tuesday had said that he received attested/certified copies of the JIT report from the apex court which he later forwarded to the NAB.
During cross-examination, the witness admitted that the NAB’s prosecution department had submitted a requisition form in the Supreme Court which was later returned. He said that the apex court had directed the quarters concerned to file an application for obtaining the record.
It is important to mention here that it was not mentioned on the form submitted by the NAB whether the request was granted to the bureau or rejected.
When asked if any letter was available that could show directions for submission of an application once the requisition form was returned without any stamp, order or note, Nagra replied in the negative.