Panama Case: London flats money trail in focus at SC
January 31, 2017
ISLAMABAD: As the Panama Papers hearing resumed on Tuesday many questions were put to Hasan and Hussain Nawaz’s counsel regarding the London flats. Who owned the properties from 1993 to 1996? Where did the investment for the London flats come from? How did the Sharif family children maintain residence at the property?
The counsel Salman Akram Raja too had all his answers ready, addressing each question. It was Hasan and Hussain that were residing in the flats during 1993 while they were studying in London. The Sharif family children were maintaining residence at the flats by paying rent and the property was purchased in 2006.
The proceedings are presently underway.
The five-member larger bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa resumed hearing of the Panama Case.
The counsel for Hasan and Hussain Nawaz, Salman Akram Raja, continued his arguments picking up from where he left off a day earlier.
On Monday, details of all gifts received and the distribution of properties among the members of the Sharif family were submitted before the bench.
Ishaq Dar’s counsel Shahid Hamid had informed the apex court that references seeking to disqualify his client before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had been dismissed during an intra-court appeal.
Shahid Hamid had also informed the bench that the time to appeal against the court’s earlier ruling had expired, to which Justice Asif Khosa remarked that after Hamid has completed his arguments the bench will ask the Prosecutor General in this regard.
The bench had then demanded to know why the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) did not submit references against the Sharif family, and demanded the Attorney General of Pakistan to submit a written reply before the bench.
Hasan and Hussain Nawaz’s counsel Salman Akram Raja had informed the court that Hussain Nawaz was the beneficial owner of the London flats, adding that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had no connection with the London flats.
