Nawaz's pleas in Al Azizia, Avenfield corruption references dismissed by IHC

The Islamabad High Court on Thursday dismissed pleas by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif against the imprisonment sentences announced in the Al Azizia Steel Mills and Avenfield apartments references.

IHC judges Justice Umar Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar pronounced a nine-page judgment that was earlier reserved after listening of arguments from the National Accountability Bureau prosecutor and amicus curiae.

The verdict means that the judgments pronounced by the accountability court for the two cases have been upheld.

According to the IHC judgment, Nawaz is a proclaimed offender and so "there was no choice but to dismiss the pleas" owing to his continued disappearance from court.

The judgment observed that if Nawaz returns or is caught by the authorities, an application for a renewal of appeals can be filed.

The former prime minister had filed appeals with the IHC against the decisions of the accountability court.

Accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir had on July 6, 2018, convicted Nawaz in the Avenfield reference and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

However, an IHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb suspended the sentence in the reference and later granted him bail allowing him to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Meanwhile, accountability judge Mohammad Arshad Malik had on Dec 24, 2018 convicted Sharif in the Al Azizia reference and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment, besides imposing fines of Rs1.5 billion and $25 million.

He was acquitted in a joint reference with the Al Azizia reference — the Flagship investment reference.

Reacting to the development, Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said that the "sluggish" Opposition does not pose any threat to Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He said that the PTI had won the 2018 general elections with the mandate of bringing back the wealth that was looted from the country.

"This crippled Opposition cannot topple the government," the minister said.

Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior and Accountability Shahzad Akbar said that the government has once more reached out to the British government for the deportation of Nawaz.

He said that the PML-N supremo has applied for an extension in stay based on medical grounds, adding that if the UK does decide to deport him, he will have the right to appeal the ruling.

Akbar said that the Pakistan government has informed Britain that Nawaz is a convicted felon.

The accountability adviser said that Nawaz had gone to London on a visit visa and British law dictates that no one can stay on a visit visa beyond six months.

He said that Nawaz Sharif "is not ill, he is healthy" and must appear before the court.

"If the court acquits him, we will not object," he said.

Akbar said that Nawaz must let the government know who poses a threat to his life, and he will be provided security.

"Even if he needs a bullet proof vehicle, we will provide it. But he must return to Pakistan," the adviser said.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry hailed the verdict, terming it a "victory for the people of Pakistan".

He said Nawaz and his family "must return the wealth stolen" from the nation.

The minister said that Maryam Nawaz's sworn affidavit "was fake".

He further declared today's decision to be a triumph for the PTI's stance.

"Nawaz Sharif is an absconder and he has been fined but he is unwilling to pay it," he added.

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Kulbhushan Jadhav case: ICJ review and reconsideration bill presented in Senate

The International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Bill, meant to provide the right of appeal to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, was presented in the Senate on Thursday. The bill had been passed by the National Assembly last week.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan introduced the bill in the House, which was criticised by the Opposition. Following this, the Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani referred the bill to the Standing Committee on Law and Justice.

The bill states that where the International Court of Justice issues an order regarding the rights of foreigners, the high court will have the power to review and reconsider it and the affected foreigner will be able to file a petition for review in the high court either themselves or through their representative.

The petition will be filed with reference to punishment or order of punishment by a military court under the Pakistan Army Act. A review or reconsideration request will be filed within 60 days of the military court's order.

Per the bill, the high court will examine whether the foreign national has been discriminated against in terms of defence, right to testify, fair trial, and denial of consular access.

The aims and objectives of the bill stated that India has approached the International Court of Justice regarding Jadhav's trial, adding that the decision of the ICJ requires Pakistan to provide a review mechanism to such prisoners.

Commenting on the bill, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that the PTI-led government did not take the Opposition into confidence when passing the bill in the National Assembly last week.

"The PPP will not be a facilitator in Jhadav's case because the bill was prepared by the government behind closed doors," he said while speaking to the media in Karachi.

Bilawal added that if the government wishes to grant the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to Jhadav, PM Imran Khan should do it himself without expecting the cooperation of his party.

Bilawal also shed light on issues related to Afghanistan and said that the Parliament should be informed about the deal that the PTI-led government has struck with Afghanistan.

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PML-N’S KHAWAJA ASIF RELEASED ON BAIL

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif has been released from jail custody, reported on Thursday.Khawaja Asif is facing assets beyond known sources of income charges.

MNA Khawaja Asif through his counsel Barrister Haider Rasul Mirza filed the petition which stated that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested him from Islamabad last year on December 29.
The PML-N stalwart is currently under treatment at the Jinnah Hospital Lahore. Seeing the release orders, the jail police left the hospital.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday granted post-arrest bail to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Asif in assets beyond means case.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Aliya Neelum, approved the bail petition after hearing arguments of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor and the PML-N leader’s lawyer.

The NAB prosecutor contended before the court that the accused neither provided money trail of funds transferred to him from the UAE nor disclosed the sources through which these were transferred.

The bench observed that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had made the documents that support its case part of the record while those in favour of Member of the National Assembly Asif were not made part of it. The bureau accepts a work permit but not its conditions, the court said.

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PML-N’S KHAWAJA ASIF RELEASED ON BAIL

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif has been released from jail custody, reported on Thursday.Khawaja Asif is facing assets beyond known sources of income charges.

MNA Khawaja Asif through his counsel Barrister Haider Rasul Mirza filed the petition which stated that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested him from Islamabad last year on December 29.
The PML-N stalwart is currently under treatment at the Jinnah Hospital Lahore. Seeing the release orders, the jail police left the hospital.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday granted post-arrest bail to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Asif in assets beyond means case.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Aliya Neelum, approved the bail petition after hearing arguments of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor and the PML-N leader’s lawyer.

The NAB prosecutor contended before the court that the accused neither provided money trail of funds transferred to him from the UAE nor disclosed the sources through which these were transferred.

The bench observed that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had made the documents that support its case part of the record while those in favour of Member of the National Assembly Asif were not made part of it. The bureau accepts a work permit but not its conditions, the court said.

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Corona claims 38 more lives in pakistan within a day

The COVID-19 has claimed 38 more lives in Pakistan over the past 24 hours, pushing the nationwide death toll to 22,111.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 1,097 new cases of the virus emerged during the said period. The overall number of the confirmed cases currently stands at 951,865.
As many as 46,124 samples were tested during this period, taking the country’s overall tests to 14,279,084.

It said the Covid-19 infection rate was recorded at 2.37.

The number of people who have recovered from the disease since the first case of the pandemic was reported in the country climbed to 896,821 after 1,131 more people recuperated in the last 24 hours.

As of June 24, as many as 7,267,000 people have been partially vaccinated against the deadly infection while 3,566,547 fully vaccinated, the NCOC said.

A total of 13,484,364 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered across Pakistan thus far.

Meanwhile, the second batch of Pakvac vaccine has been produced and will be available for use in the next couple of days after approval from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), said sources on Wednesday.

According to sources privy to the matter, the Pakistani experts solely manufactured the second batch of the vaccine which is based on the formula of single-dose Chinese vaccine-Cansino. “Previously, the first batch was manufactured with the help of the Chinese experts,” they said.

The second batch of the vaccine, according to sources, would be handed over to the government in phases after approval from the DRAP and added that the regulatory authority would issue an NCLB Lot release certificate besides it being examined by the National Control Laboratory for Biologicals.

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Corona claims 38 more lives in pakistan within a day

The COVID-19 has claimed 38 more lives in Pakistan over the past 24 hours, pushing the nationwide death toll to 22,111.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 1,097 new cases of the virus emerged during the said period. The overall number of the confirmed cases currently stands at 951,865.
As many as 46,124 samples were tested during this period, taking the country’s overall tests to 14,279,084.

It said the Covid-19 infection rate was recorded at 2.37.

The number of people who have recovered from the disease since the first case of the pandemic was reported in the country climbed to 896,821 after 1,131 more people recuperated in the last 24 hours.

As of June 24, as many as 7,267,000 people have been partially vaccinated against the deadly infection while 3,566,547 fully vaccinated, the NCOC said.

A total of 13,484,364 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered across Pakistan thus far.

Meanwhile, the second batch of Pakvac vaccine has been produced and will be available for use in the next couple of days after approval from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), said sources on Wednesday.

According to sources privy to the matter, the Pakistani experts solely manufactured the second batch of the vaccine which is based on the formula of single-dose Chinese vaccine-Cansino. “Previously, the first batch was manufactured with the help of the Chinese experts,” they said.

The second batch of the vaccine, according to sources, would be handed over to the government in phases after approval from the DRAP and added that the regulatory authority would issue an NCLB Lot release certificate besides it being examined by the National Control Laboratory for Biologicals.

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LHC grants bail to Khawaja Asif in money laundering and assets beyond means case

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday granted post-arrest bail to PML-N's senior leader Khawaja Asif in an inquiry into assets beyond means and money laundering initiated against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

A two member bench of the LHC, comprising Justice Alia Neelum and Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi, announced the verdict, ordering Asif's release from jail upon the submission of a bail bond worth Rs10 million.

"The instant petition is accepted and the petitioner is admitted to post-arrest bail subject to his furnishing bail bonds in the sum of Rs10m with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial court," reads the short court order.

Arguments on the PML-N leader's bail application were completed in three days.

Senior PML-N leadership took to Twitter to celebrate the decision. PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Asif on his release.

"Khawaja sahab belongs to our vanguard which is not afraid of prisons or chains.

"The politics of revenge in the name of accountability has been exposed once again today with the release of Khawaja Asif on bail!" said the PML-N president.

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz said the PML-N leader did not abandon party chief Nawaz Sharif despite confronting "political revenge".

"The selected ruler of the time was unsuccessful in breaking Nawaz Sharif and his companions and embarrassment has embraced him today as well."

Court hearing

During the hearing at the LHC today, the NAB prosecutor argued that the PML-N leader had been elected as a senator in 1991 and his assets in 1993 had amounted to Rs5.1m. He added that Asif continued to be elected as an MNA from 1993 to 2018.

He said the PML-N leader had earned Rs50m from a local business, earned a total income close to Rs333m and had invested Rs157m. Meanwhile, Asif's total expenses had been Rs454m, said the NAB prosecutor.

"The income is Rs333m and the expenditure is Rs454m. A negative balance is showing for Khawaja Asif," he said, adding that Asif had received money from Dubai and details of its nature and money trail were not provided.

"Was the money that came in Khawaja Asif's account in dollars or rupees?" questioned Justice Neelum upon which she was told that dollars were received and were later converted into rupees.

The NAB prosecutor said that the Federal Investigation Agency had only investigated the issue of the PML-N leader's iqama (work permit) and the salary associated with it while NAB was investigating the assets beyond means case.

"What evidence does NAB have that Khawaja Asif misused his authority?" asked Justice Neelum to which the NAB prosecutor responded: "NAB does not have a case of kickbacks and corruption against Khawaja Asif."

The NAB prosecutor informed the court that Asif's negative balance had reduced to Rs150m from Rs230m, adding that while this was not mentioned in the investigation report, there were documents available to support it.

"A different view is appearing in NAB's two answers. You will have to tell how much money Khawaja Asif deposited in the accounts. At the moment we have two contradictory answers of NAB," said Justice Neelum.

The bench further asked why the time and duration had been changed between the reports to which it was told: "It was NAB's goodwill that it reduced Khawaja Asif's controversial amount."

The bench also pointed out that on the one hand, NAB had told the court the investigation was ongoing while on the other hand, the prosecutor had stated that the reference had been sent to the anti-graft watchdog's chairman for final approval.

"What is all this? Say one thing," Justice Neelam said.

The prosecutor stated that the PML-N leader used to receive a salary of 9,000 AED from the international company.

The NAB prosecutor informed the court that a letter had been written to the company that employed Asif but they had not joined the investigation.

Meanwhile, Asif's lawyer presented a copy of his work permit in court, arguing instead, that Asif used to receive a salary of Rs87m from the company.

The prosecutor said NAB had been asking Asif for information but he had refused to provide it. Upon this, Justice Neelum asked him to "open your eyes a bit, all this is written on the iqama."

The NAB prosecutor said the anti-corruption body did not consider the work permit to be valid because it was not verified to which the bench replied that the court had gotten the verification done.

NAB had arrested Asif in Islamabad on Dec 29, 2020 and later shifted him to Lahore where he remained on physical remand till Jan 22.

The accountability watchdog has alleged that Asif had failed to explain the sources of his income and assets. It had said he was first elected senator in 1991 when his assets stood at around Rs5 million. It said Asif's assets had swelled to Rs221m by 2018, which were beyond the known sources of his income.

It added that Asif had yet to disclose the source of income of a foreign remittance he received from Dubai amounting to Rs100m.

In a bail petition sought from the LHC in March, Asif's legal counsel contended that the petitioner, during his 22-day physical remand with the NAB, had not been confronted with any evidence that could prove that he owned assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The petition had contended that no recovery had been made from Asif that could connect him with the allegations of corruption as alleged in the grounds of his arrest. It had asked the court to release the petitioner on bail.

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