More documents to endorse Sharifs’ case in SC

ISLAMABAD: The ruling Sharif family, facing inclusive accountability at the Supreme Court, has submitted more documents to it in an attempt to fill the gaps and eliminate shortcomings in its case and answer a host of questions raised by the judges from time to time during the proceedings.

These papers also take care of the objections and allegations underlined by the petitioners during lingering arguments of their lawyers. One of the documents was another letter from Qatari prince Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani, which categorically endorsed his first communication in support of the stand taken by the Sharif family in the important hearings. His family has longstanding relations with Sharifs since decades.

It is clear from the wordings of the instant letter that its author was conscious of the questions raised about his previous statement and he tried to address all of them so that there is no doubt about the investment made by Mian Mohammad Sharif (late), father of the prime minister, in Qatar, the profits it generated and the acquisition of London flats.

Obviously, the earlier communication was written by the Qatar royal on the request of the Sharif family to present it to the apex court. Same is the case with the second letter so that all sorts of suspicions are done away with it. Not only the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) but some other opposition parties also made fun of the previous letter dubbing it as a rescue effort by the Sharif family. But they only issued rhetorical statements against it without producing any proof to counter it.

However, the letter starts by saying that “it has come to my attention that certain queries have been raised with respect to my statement dated 5 November 2016.” The royal stated that way back in 1980 Mian Sharif made an investment of UAE Dirhams 12 million in his family’s real estate business by way of provision of cash, which was the common practice in the Gulf region at the time.

At the end of 2005 after reconciling all accruals and other distributions made over the terms of the investment, it was agreed that an amount of approximately $8 million was due to Mian Sharif, which was settled by way of the delivery to Hussain’s representative of bearer shares of two offshore companies including Nescoll and Neilson Enterprises Limited which had been kept during that time in Qatar, the letter stated.

Like the previous letter, the present communication also noted at the end that this statement is private and confidential and can’t be used or disclosed to any party without its author’s prior written consent except to the benefits of the courts of Pakistan and regulators of Pakistan. However, contrary to his wish, both the letters were publicly released.

Transaction details and auditor's reports regarding the Gulf Steel Mills in Dubai and the Azizia Steel Mills in Jeddah were also provided to the five-member bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa.

Salman Akram Raja, lawyer of Hussain and Hassan, filed with the court the land acquisition deed for the Gulf Steel Mills in Dubai, a letter verifying its existence and documents pertaining to the sale of the factories in Dubai and Jeddah. A confirmation letter signed by the municipality noted that the mills used to exist in Dubai in the mid-seventies on a rented plot of 1,000,000 square feet.

The London flats were purchased by Mian Sharif for his grandsons, and Hussain and Hassan lived in these apartments during Sharif family’s exile in Saudi Arabia.

Apart from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawyer, Naeem Bokhari, Jamaat-e-Islami attorney Taufiq Asif had claimed in his arguments that the prime minister’s speech made to the National Assembly after the eruption of the Panama Papers’ scandal contained misstatements. Both wanted his disqualification due to such inconsistencies under Article 62.

However, a rejoinder was handed over to the apex court by the prime minister’s attorney in which it was stated that Nawaz Sharif made no misstatements in his address. It also asserted that the premier did not own the London flats and is not their beneficial owner.

The defendants provided to the court some four important documents including the money trail to endorse their case. Nowhere in these papers does figure any money transmitted from Pakistan through any mode.

It is now for the petitioners specifically the PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami to repudiate the Sharif family’s claims with credible documentary evidence and not by just empty statements, full of allegations and accusations.