ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided to file four references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his three children, son-in-law and former finance minister Ishaq Dar.
The references would be filed under orders from the Supreme Court as part of the verdict, which disqualified Nawaz Sharif from the office of the prime minister.
The references would be filed by NAB Rawalpindi against Nawaz Sharif, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz, Maryam Nawaz, Capt (retd) Safdar and Ishaq Dar.
The decision to file the references was taken in the meeting of the NAB Executive Board, which was held on Monday under its Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry.It was decided to file four references in the accountability courts of Islamabad/ Rawalpndi in the stipulated time period of six weeks from the date of judgement.
The references will be prepared on the basis of the material collected and referred by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in its report and some other material as may be available with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and NAB having nexus with the assets in the below mentioned cases or which might subsequently become available, including material that may become available in pursuant to the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) requests sent by the JIT to different jurisdictions.
a) Reference relating to the Avenfield Properties (Flat No 16 and 16-A, 17 and 17-A Avenfield House, Park Lane, London, United Kingdom).
b) Reference relating to establishment of Azizia Steel Company and Hill Metal Company.
c) Reference relating to the companies mentioned in paragraph 9 of the judgement.
d) Reference relating to respondent No 10 (Ishaq Dar) for possessing assets beyond his known sources of income.
The concerned officers were directed for an efficient and professional handling of the entire process in the laid down time limit.
In its order, the SC five-member-bench also requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan to nominate a judge of the Supreme Court to supervise and monitor implementation of the judgement and oversee proceedings of NAB and the accountability court.
In preparing and filing Avenfield Properties reference, the NAB shall also consider the material already collected during the course of investigations conducted earlier, as indicated in the detailed judgments, the SC had ruled.
The court also ordered the filing of a reference against respondents Nawaz, Hussain and Hasan regarding Azizia Steel Company and Hill Metal Establishment.
A reference was ordered against Senator Ishaq Dar possessing assets and funds beyond his known sources of income, "as discussed in paragraph 9 of the judgement".
The court also ordered NAB to include in its proceedings all other persons including Sheikh Saeed, [nephew of Dar’s wife] Musa Ghani, [son of a retired officer from London Stock Exchange] Kashif Masood Qazi, Javaid Kiyani and National Bank of Pakistan President Saeed Ahmed, who have any direct or indirect nexus or connection with the actions of Nawaz, Hussain, Hasan, Maryam and Dar, leading to acquisition of assets and funds beyond their known sources of income.
A reference was also ordered against Nawaz, Hussain and Hasan regarding the companies mentioned in paragraph nine of the judgement.
The bench also gave NAB the option to file supplementary reference(s) "if and when any other asset, which is not prima facie reasonably accounted for, is discovered".
The accountability court will then proceed with and decide the aforesaid references within six months from the date of filing.