Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: An Accountability Court (AC) on Wednesday rejected the petition filed by Sharif family in the issue pertaining to the transfer of Al-Azizia reference case from Muhammad Bashir’s court.

As the hearing underway, the defense counsel Khawaja Haris asked for some more time to present a copy of the apex court’s order for an extension in wrapping up the corruption references against former premier Nawaz Sharif and former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

The hearing was then adjourned till 12 pm.

After the hearing was resumed, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi told the court that the Apex Court’s extension order was yet to be received.

In response to this, the judge asked that what exactly the Supreme Court’s (SC) order entailed.

Abbasi replied that a six-week extension has been granted by the SC to wrap up the corruption cases. To which the judge responded that the SC’s statement is yet to be seen.

The defense counsel then requested the court to take notice of the plea of transfer of the case from Muhammad Bashir to another judge.

In response to this, Justice Bashir remarked that it was beyond his capacity as he did not have the mandate to transfer the reference after indictments.

Haris then requested the court to adjourn the session till Tuesday so that he could approach Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the relative matter.

On the other hand, NAB prosecutor remarked that Justice Bashir should proceed with the further sessions as he had been handeling the case since day one.

While referring to the Avenfield verdict, the defense counsel then stated that the verdict announced by Judge Bashir was common with the other references. He then remarked, “We should also see justice getting served.”

The SC judge remarked that only high court held the mandate to transfer the case, he then rejected the transfer petition and ajdourned the session till July 17.