ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Wednesday hearing corruption cases against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif granted the accused exemption from proceedings owing to his ill health. As Judge Mohammad Bashir began hearing the Flagship and Al-Azizia reference, counse for Nawaz Khawaja Haris requested the court to grant his client exemption from the hearing owing to his ill health. The court accepted his request and directed the former premier to leave after marking his attendance. At the last hearing on Monday, when the court took up the Flagship reference, the former premier was granted a similar exemption. Talking to the media after exiting the courtroom, Nawaz said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had never indulged in horse-trading, adding that he personally despised buying and selling of votes. Referring to allegations of horse-trading in the recent Senate election, Nawaz said they were ready to talk to affected parties to form a strategy to deal with the issue. Earlier, Nawaz reached the court along with his son-in-law Captain (r) Safdar Awan and Senator Pervaiz Rasheed. The former premier took a special plane from Lahore to reach Islamabad. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed three interim corruption references against the Sharif family in September last year in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case. Recently, the bureau has also filed supplementary references in all the three cases as well. As the hearing went under way, Flagship reference witness Shahid Mahmood informed the court that he had provided NAB with copies of Nawaz’s speeches in the National Assembly and to the nation. The speeches were also played in the courtroom. After a brief adjournment, the prosecution’s second witness Syed Hasan Riaz began recording his statement. At the last hearing, Haris had completed the cross-examination of witness Abdul Hannan. According to reports, the witness had failed to satisfy the court regarding the veracity of the documents submitted as the land registry documents did not have any signature or official stamp. The corruption references, filed against the Sharif family, pertain to the Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment and offshore companies, including Flagship Investment Ltd and Avenfield properties of London. Published in Daily Times, March 8th 2018.