Nawaz has never claimed Avenfield flat ownership: Khawaja Haris

Author: Staff Report

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s lead counsel Khawaja Haris reiterated on Wednesday that his client had claimed ownership of London flats.

As he resumed his arguments in the Avenfield reference, the lead counsel said that the burden of proof lied on the prosecution, adding, “Here the prosecution has put the burden of the proof on the defence.”

He said his client’s [Nawaz] ownership had never been proven. “If the ownership had been proven only then we could have discussed the supposed difference between income and assets,” he said.

Further, Haris said that Wajid Zia, the head of the joint investigation team formed in the Panama Papers case, also never stated that Nawaz was involved in the running of the Gulf Steel Mills. He added that none of the prosecution witnesses claimed that Nawaz’s son Hasan was a dependent of his father.

Haris claimed that the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) official Sidra Mansoor could not even verify the documents she presented in court.

As the hearing resumed after a short recess, Haris stated that the investigation officer of the case also did not bring any witness on record to establish Nawaz as the owner of London properties.

The hearing was later adjourned till June 21 (today).

Haris had resumed his role as Nawaz’s chief counsel on Tuesday, after recusing from the case earlier in protest over Supreme Court’s ‘dictation’ on speedy completion of the trial [within a month].

At the hearing on Wednesday, Nawaz’s son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar was the only respondent present, as Nawaz and his daughter Maryam Nawaz have been granted a four-day exemption from appearance in the court. The former premier and his daughter are in London to tend to Begum Kulsoom Nawaz.

The Avenfield reference pertains to the Sharif family’s London properties. It is among the three references filed against the family by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) last year on the Supreme Court’s directives in the Panama Papers case.

Published in Daily Times, June 21^st 2018.