Nawaz asked to appear before court again Tuesday in remaining two references

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad on Monday directed incarcerated former premier Nawaz Sharif to appear before it again tomorrow for the hearing of remaining two corruption references against him and his family.

Earlier today, Nawaz appeared before accountability court II Judge Mohammad Arshad Malik for hearing of Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment references.

The former premier requested that he be allowed to drink tea at a stall outside the court as the hearing was delayed for an hour as Nawaz's counsel Khawaja Harris was at the Supreme Court.

Nawaz's request was rejected but PML-N leader Nasir Butt brought tea for the premier at the court. However, there was no space in the staff room for the PML-N leaders, they turned towards the courtroom but were told that the food and drinks are not allowed in the courtroom. Thus, Nawaz's wish remained unfulfilled. 

As the hearing resumed, Nawaz's counsel cross-questioned Panamagate Joint Investigation Team (JIT) head and prosecution's star witness Wajid Zia.

Zia informed the court that after consultations the JIT decided against sending questionnaires to witnesses of the suspects. Further, when asked if this point was part of the JIT report, Zia said it was not.

"During consultation on the Qatari prince's letter we could not reach an agreement whether to visit Doha or not," the prosecution's star witness said.

"The matter was taken to the Supreme Court and we suggested two options whether we don't visit Doha at all or we visit but don't send the questionnaire in advance," he continued.

To this, Harris remarked that the letter written to the SC did not mention that the JIT decided against sending questionnaires to witnesses.

"Was Irfan Mangi present at the meeting during which it was decided to not send questionnaires and did he mention that in NAB cases the questionnaires are sent beforehand?" Harris questioned. 

Responding to Nawaz's counsel, Zia said, "Mangi was present but mentioned no such thing."

Further, when asked if he knows that questionnaires are sent beforehand in NAB cases, Zia said, "I've never worked in NAB so cannot comment. However, few members mentioned that some departments and FIA send questionnaires before."

The accountability court judge also questioned Zia and asked how many letters the Qatari prince wrote.

"The letters cannot be verified as the Qatari prince did not visit Pakistan nor did the JIT visit Doha," the judge remarked. 

Earlier today, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan ordered a six-week extension in the deadline for concluding the remaining two corruption references.

Judge Malik had submitted a written request to the Supreme Court seeking an extension to conclude the Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment references.

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.