Panama Gate: Pak SC asks Sharif's daughter Maryam to be honest

Pakistan's Supreme Court, which is hearing the Panama Gate case, has asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam to give honest replies to the questions asked and to avoid inconsistencies in her replies.

The apex court said the real issue in the case was not ownership of foreign properties, but honesty.

"The court is only interested in the honesty aspect and not in the properties, since these things have their own bearing on the fate of the case," the Dawn quoted Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who heads the five-judge Supreme Court bench hearing the Panama Gate case, as saying.

"The impression I am getting is that improvements are being made as the case progresses," observed Justice Ijazul Ahsan, referring to at least four concise submissions made before the court on behalf of Ms Maryam at different stages.

The judges pointed out to Advocate Shahid Hamid, who represents Maryam Nawaz Sharif, that in one of her replies, she had claimed she was a trustee of her brother Hussain Nawaz in relation to the property that belonged to Nescoll Ltd, while the trust deed between her and Mr. Hussain also mentioned the other company, Nielson Enterprises Ltd.

In a different reply, it was claimed that Hussain Nawaz lived abroad and had no national tax number (NTN), but later his NTN was furnished before the court in a subsequent statement to explain how he had sent a hefty amount of gifts to his father - the prime minister - over four years.