Case transfer not possible post-indictment, NAB prosecutor tells IHC
August 06, 2018
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) resumed hearing on Monday the plea of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to transfer the remaining corruption references against him to another court.
Legal counsel of former premier Nawaz Sharif had filed an appeal, requesting the court to transfer the Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment references from the court of Accountability Judge-I Mohammad Bashir to another accountability court.
The Sharif family had also petitioned against their convictions in the Avenfield reference.
IHC had clubbed the two references, which will are being heard by a two-member bench including Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.
As the proceedings began today, National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) Additional Deputy Prosecutor General prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi began presenting his arguments.
The NAB prosecutor contended that Judge Bashir had been hearing the defence's arguments in Al-Azizia and Flagship references for 10 months. "A good lawyer can change a judge's mind through solid arguments," he said.
Justice Aurangzeb observed that the evidence was interlinked in all three corruption references. "How can these interrelated facts be separated? This case is not ordinary in nature. It cannot be compared to the cases we hear on a daily basis," he noted.
The NAB prosecutor then pointed out that the defence had not petitioned in the Supreme Court against rejection of the plea to club all three references.
"A judge cannot be removed from a case just because they have decided on a previous case," said Abbasi. "If this precedent is set, then hearing cases of similar nature will become difficult. A new judge will have to be appointed for every other case."
The NAB prosecutor further said that once the accused is indicted then the reference cannot be transferred. "The reference is in its last stages thereby the high court will have to decide on this matter now," Abbasi said.
The court then adjourned till tomorrow (Tuesday).
On July 6, an accountability court had sentenced Nawaz to a total of 11 years in prison and slapped a £8 million fine (Rs1.3 billion) in the corruption reference, while his daughter Maryam was sentenced to eight years with a £2 million fine (Rs335 million). Nawaz's son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar was also given a one-year sentence without any fine.
The Sharifs had challenged their convictions in the IHC, highlighting the legal flaws in the Avenfield judgement and asking for the accountability court's verdict to be declared null and void and the three convicts to be released on bail.
The trial
The trial against the Sharif family commenced on September 14, 2017.
On July 6, after four extensions in the original six-month deadline to conclude all three cases, the court announced its verdict in the Avenfield reference.
Nawaz and his sons, Hussain and Hasan, are accused in all three references whereas Maryam and Safdar were accused in the Avenfield reference only.
The two brothers, based abroad, have been absconding since the proceedings began last year and were declared proclaimed offenders by the court.
On July 10, the Supreme Court granted another six-week extension for Accountability Court-I Judge Mohammad Bashir to conclude the remaining corruption references against Nawaz and former finance minister Ishaq Dar.
