Sharifs summoned yet again

LAHORE: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and members of his family – Hussain Nawaz, Hassan Nawaz, Maryam Nawaz and Capt (retd) Safdar – again did not appear before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Sunday.

According to a news agency, the Sharif family has been summoned again for Monday (today). However, when contacted by The News, NAB sources refused to confirm or deny the report.  According to the NAB sources, if the Sharifs didn’t record their statements, the Bureau might approach the Supreme Court for further guidance on the matter.

On Friday, the NAB Lahore had issued summons to the Sharif family members for their appearance on Sunday, a spokesman Asim Ali Nawazish was reported as telling the media. He said summons had been issued to all the five members of the Sharif family. According to the spokesman, the former premier, Maryam and Capt (retd) Safdar had received their summons whereas Hassan and Hussain didn’t receive summons as being out of the country. 

Another NAB official, requesting anonymity, confirmed to The News that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, National Bank of Pakistan President Saeed Ahmad and Tariq Shafi have been summoned for August 22 (tomorrow). 

The Sharif family was summoned to record their statements regarding their London properties before the Bureau could file a reference against them in the accountability court. According to NAB sources, a six-member team led by Director General Maj (retd) Shehzad Saleem has been formed to investigate the Sharifs regarding their expensive four London flats.

Earlier, the Sharif family refused to appear before the investigators on Friday until the Supreme Court decides their review petition. Anticipating the fact that the Sharif family wouldn’t appear before the NAB, no heavy police contingent was deployed at and around the NAB Lahore office on Sunday. It was the other way around on Friday when a heavy contingent of police was deployed as it was expected that the Sharif family might visit the NAB office to record their statements.

Although, it was a public holiday, the Bureau took this unprecedented step of summing the Sharifs on Sunday as it wanted to complete the task by September 8. As per normal practice, the NAB offices remain closed for general applicants on weekends.

On the other hand, NAB has also approached the Supreme Court for seeking permission to record the statements of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) members who had probed the Panama Papers case on the Supreme Court orders.

The NAB wants to record their statements before filing references against the Sharif family in accountability courts. They, however, said the Bureau might send a questionnaire to the Sharif family for their response regarding various properties and companies they own/possess outside the country.

When contacted on Sunday, Amjad Parvez, a senior lawyer of the Sharif family in NAB cases, promised to respond to the queries of this correspondent by evening but didn’t attend the phone calls later till the filing of this report. Sources close to the Sharif family, however, said the family didn't receive any summons.