Documents show Nawaz received salary from FZE Capital: SC
Documents show Nawaz received salary from FZE Capital: SC: The Supreme Court observed on Thursday that documents submitted in court during the Panama Papers case proved that then prime minister Nawaz Sharif received a salary from a UAE-based company in August 2013. The observation came as the apex court’s five-member bench, headed by headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, resumed hearing of review petitions filed by the Sharif family and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar against the apex court’s judgment in the Panama Papers case on July 28.
Other members of the bench include Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan — who along with the latter two headed the special implementation bench in the Panama case that oversaw the work of the Joint Investigation Team.
Continuing his arguments from Wednesday, Nawaz’s lawyer, Khawaja Harris, argued that Nawaz never claimed to receive any salary from FZE Capital.
He added that a proper trial is needed for a lawmaker’s disqualification, saying that if just his election was termed void then Nawaz would only have been barred for one term.
Justice Ejaz remarked that Nawaz Sharif did not declare a salary account and that documents submitted in court state that he received in August 2013 a salary in his FZE Capital account. He observed further that the relevant record in this regard is present in the JIT’s Volume IX.
Adding to this, Justice Ahsan remarked that Nawaz’s employment number is 194811 and that documents state that he received a salary.
Justice Azmat stated that the apex court made its decision in the case on verified facts.
However, Harris reiterated that Nawaz never received any salary from FZE Capital in any of his accounts.
Terming the JIT report incomplete, Harris said the JIT received most of its documents from sources and had faults in it.
Justice Ejaz responded that the faults in the report will benefit your case.
“You will have a complete chance for cross-examination in the trial court,” he remarked. He added that the bench has not considered the JIT report the undeniable truth and did not make its decision on the basis of the JIT report.
During the hearing, when Harris argued that the court should have directed NAB to file references if it considered them fit, the bench responded that had the matter been left to NAB alone the references would not have been filed.
The hearing was then adjourned briefly.
The bench is the same that delivered the final judgment in the high-profile case leading to Nawaz’s disqualification and filing of anti-corruption references against Sharif family members and Dar.
During the Wednesday’s hearing, Harris argued that the final verdict [in the Panama Papers case] by the five-judge bench was not right as two honourable bench members had on April 20 given their verdict [on disqualification].
Justice Khosa observed that the reasons [of the judges] to disqualify Nawaz as prime minister may have differed but the decision was unanimous.
Justice Azmat also remarked that the final Panama case verdict was to be decided by the same five-member bench which had given the April 20 judgment.
The former prime minister, through his petition, has argued that the decision passed by the court on July 28 should have been passed by a three-member bench as Justice Khosa and Justice Gulzar Ahmed’s jurisdiction had expired after their dissenting judgment on April 20. The same has been argued in petitions filed by Nawaz’s children, Hasan, Hussain and Maryam and son-in-law MNA Captain (retd) Safdar as well as Dar.
“Nawaz’s basic rights were usurped by appointing monitoring judge,” Harris said further on Wednesday.
Justice Ejaz responded that the accountability court [where corruption cases will now be heard] is free to reach its own decision. The quality of investigation can be reviewed and the petitioners will be allowed the opportunity to cross-question witnesses and JIT members, he added.
Justice Khosa also observed that the content could be different but the result was the same. “Nawaz Sharif was disqualified in both judgments,” he remarked.
However, Harris maintained that a five-judge bench could not have given the July 28 judgment.
The counsel for Nawaz’s children and son-in-law, Salman Akram Raja, was also present in the courtroom and is expected to present his arguments later on.
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