JIT's probe was biased, without proof, Nawaz says in corruption hearing

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Web Desk
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ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday told an accountability court that the investigation carried out by a joint investigation team in connection with a corruption reference against him was biased and not backed by evidence.

Accountability court judge Muhammad Arshad Malik resumed hearing the Al-Azizia corruption reference, filed by the National Accountability Bureau last year on Supreme Court orders, against the Sharif family today.

Nawaz reiterated during the hearing that the statements recorded by the JIT during its probe were not acceptable evidence.

He told the court that the money deposited in his account from abroad was documented correctly in FBR records, whereas a plea was submitted in the Supreme Court on his behalf rejecting the “so-called evidence” and report presented by the JIT.

The former premier said that he has pointed out in the plea that the JIT is a mere investigative body and hence, any statement recorded by it cannot be presented as evidence in the court.

He alleged that the JIT’s investigation was biased and not backed by evidence.

Nawaz has recorded his responses to 120 out of the 151 questions listed on the questionnaire.

During Friday’s hearing of the case, he had admitted gifting 77 per cent of the money received from abroad to his daughter Maryam Nawaz.

He had told the court that he had never been a part of any transactions related to the sale of Al-Azizia steel mills, and that all the money he had received from abroad had been documented in his tax returns, and that he was free to spend it as he wished.