Justice Asif
Saeed Khosa, during a hearing of the Panamagate case on Monday, advised
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) counsel Naeem Bokhari to file a reference
with National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry
to reopen the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case.
The judge was
presiding over a five-member bench of the apex court when he said, "We
can call the chairman of NAB and ask him why he did not fulfil his
responsibilities."
Justice Khosa was referring to a case
in which now Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had submitted a handwritten
statement to a magistrate in 2000 alleging that the Sharif brothers had
used the Hudaibiyah Paper Mills as a cover for money laundering during
the late 90s.
In 2014, an accountability court judge had
rejected an application filed by NAB requesting the reopening of the
Hudaibiya Paper Mills and Raiwind Assets references.
As
per a NAB investigation report on the Hudaibiya Paper Mills reference
in 2014, the Sharif family had allegedly deposited ill-gotten money in
bank accounts opened in other people’s names and used it to pay off
loans of their companies.
The court observed that NAB had
not given proper opportunity to the Sharif family to join the
investigations and justify their assets.
Justice
Khosa also admonished Bokhari for steering the focus of the case away
from the London flats towards the Hudaibiya Paper Mills.
"First
in the case you spoke about the London flats. Now, you have jumped
towards the confessional statement of Ishaq Dar," he noted.
Justice
Ejaz ul Hasan, too, pointed out to the counsel that his arguments had
failed to make clear whether or not Maryam Nawaz is a dependent of her
father.
Bokhari told the court that the London flats were
bought under Maryam Nawaz's name between 1993 to 1996. He added that at
the time of the transaction, Maryam Nawaz was underage and had no
source of income.
The advocate alleged that Maryam Nawaz was made the beneficiary as a smokescreen, whereas the PM is the real owner of the flats.
He told the apex court that, in a similar manner, the PM set up mills in Jeddah and Dubai by using benami transactions.
Justice
Khosa pointed out that the burden of proof lies with the PTI since they
claim to have the evidence.
He added that it was the party's
responsibility to show how the companies were bought, who made them and
where the money came from.
Justice Khosa told Bokhari
that if the Supreme Court sends the references regarding the Hudaibiya
Paper Mills case to NAB, it will no longer be able to hold hearings on
the
Panamagate case in accordance with Article 184.
He
further advised Bokhari that the responsibility was upon him to either
separate the two cases or ensure that they are heard simultaneously.
Justice Ejaz ul Hasan, however, advised the advocate that if the two cases are joined, the Panamagate case will become 'muddy'.
Source: Dawn News
