Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was told on Wednesday that the term of Accountability Court-I Judge Mohammad Bashir, who is hearing corruption references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, will be extended before its expiry.

The assurance was communicated by the law secretary after the apex court took notice of the government’s failure to extend the judge’s tenure.

Chief Justice Justice Saqib Nisar had summoned the law secretary to explain what the government was doing about the matter as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) requested the law ministry for an extension in the judge’s tenure.

Appearing in court, the law secretary said that the summary for the extension has been forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat and will be approved in a few days.

The court then ordered the law secretary to inform it of the progress on March 10.

Judge Bashir has been conducting the proceedings since September last year, when the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed three corruption references against Nawaz and his family and one against then-finance minister Ishaq Dar in view of the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Panama Papers case.

Judge Bashir was appointed to the accountability court in 2012. In 2015, the federal government, on recommendations of the IHC, extended his tenure for three years.

Earlier, the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday took notice of the government’s inability to extend the tenure of the accountability court judge.

CJ Mian Saqib Nisar then summoned the law secretary to explain why the government was not doing anything in the matter, despite Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) request for an extension in the judge’s tenure.

Since September 2017, Justice Mohammad Bashir is hearing London flats, Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Flagship Investment references against ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (r) Safdar and is also hearing a case against former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for possessing assets beyond his declared income. He was appointed in 2012 while the federal government, on the suggestion of IHC, extended his tenure for three years in 2015. The judge is set to retire on March 13 this year.

Published in Daily Times, March 8^th 2018.