Sharifs' objections to NAB's supplementary reference rejected

An accountability court in Islamabad dismissed objections of the Sharifs to a supplementary reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with the Avenfield case on Tuesday.

According to the Dawn, the court decided that the supplementary reference would be made part of the record in the Avenfield flats case.

The accountability court resumed hearing the corruption references against former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family today.

The former premier, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and her husband retired Captain Muhammad Safdar were present in court for the hearing.

The supplementary reference - which names Nawaz, three of his children and Safdar - was filed after NAB investigators obtained additional evidence under the mutual legal assistance (MLA).

Sharif, his sons Hasan and Hussain, daughter Maryam, son-in-law Capt (retd) Mohammad Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar are facing multiple corruption references in the accountability court.

Nawaz's lawyer, Advocate Khawaja Harris, argued that, "There was no need to file a supplementary reference in order to include new evidence in the record."

The Pakistan Supreme Court had, on July 28, disqualified Sharif from holding the office of the prime minister and asked the National Accountability Bureau to file references against the Sharif family in connection with corruption cases against them.

The references against the Sharif family pertain to the Al-Azizia Steel Mills, offshore companies including Flagship Investment Ltd, and Avenfield properties of London.