–Judges say deposed PM’s petition ‘infructuous’ as his counsel has already started concluding arguments in Avenfield case
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday rejected former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s request seeking a simultaneous verdict on the three corruption references against him.
The verdict was announced by justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Aamer Farooq a day after it was reserved.
The National Accountability Bureau has filed three references against Nawaz and his family in an accountability court of Islamabad last year in the light of the Supreme Court’s judgement in the Panama Papers case.
The bench observed that Nawaz’s counsel has already started his concluding arguments in the Avenfield reference and thus the plea is “infructuous”.
Azam Nazir Tarrar and Amjad Pervez appeared on behalf of the Sharif family in the high court during Thursday’s proceedings.
Nawaz’s counsel argued that “this is the first case in history where the petitioner has not used delaying tactics”. He maintained that recording separate testimony of witnesses common to the three cases is depriving his client of his fundamental rights.
However, NAB prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar contended that defence lawyer Khawaja Haris had already started presenting concluding arguments in one reference, maintaining that the petition in the high court has become “invalid”.
He further argued that all of the three references were independent and the complete arguments for one reference had already been presented before the anti-graft court.
Earlier on June 5, the anti-graft court had rejected Nawaz’s petition for final arguments in all the three references against the Sharif family to be heard together.
Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir had said that the petitioner may challenge the verdict in the high court. He further ruled that till the IHC’s verdict, the cross-examination of NAB’s star witness Wajid Zia would continue.
