The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday adjourned hearing till June 23 on appeals of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Vice President Maryam Nawaz and her husband Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar in Avenfield Property reference.
A division bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhter Kayani heard the appeals. Maryam Nawaz and her husband appeared before the court along with their legal team.
At the outset of hearing, Maryam’s counsel Amjad Pervaiz continued his arguments and said that the trial court had testified eight witnesses on January 18, 2018. He said that charges were not framed against all accused instead the NAB changed its case.
He said that the NAB had not told who the real owner was and who ‘benamdar’ of the property was in its original reference. But the bureau had claimed here that Nawaz Sharif was the real owner of the property, and that it was in the name of Hussain Nawaz. He said the NAB’s stance was changed in the supplementary reference. The defence objected on it and prayed the court during the trial to again frame charges against his client, the lawyer said.
He further argued that a confused and mix charges were framed against the accused. The charge sheet which was provided to the defence had not mentioned any trust deed.
The court noted that trust deed had been mentioned in the charge which was mentioned to the bench. Maryam’s lawyer said that the investigation was miss-led from reference to the indictment, adding that the top court had raised questions and given directions on it.
Justice Kayani remarked that the investigation was not completed on the time which was mentioned by the lawyer. Amjad Pervaiz said his client was included in investigation on the basis of only hearsay, and the original documents were never shared with them.
The lawyer said that the court had to view the legal worth of trust deed on the basis of which Maryam Nawaz was convicted. He said that the NAB had engaged Robert and law firm in investigation but Jerry Freeman was not included in the process. The court remarked that the NAB had stated that the accused had submitted the fake documents to save the real accused. Maryam’s lawyer said that the trust deed based on which his client was convicted was dated June 2006. If the documents were of 2006, how it could be an attempt to save the real accused, he said.
Amjad Pervaiz said that the defence had told the top court regarding the purpose of that trust deed. The court said that the accused had taken burden of proof with this trust deed. The lawyer said the NAB had failed to shift the burden of proofs. He further said that JIT head Wajid Zia had hired his cousin to verify the letter from Jerry Freeman in London. The prosecution was presenting this letter as the main proof.
Amjad Pervaiz said the Calibri font existed in 2005 and that he used it himself, so why others could not use it.
The further hearing of the case was then adjourned till June 23, wherein the defence lawyer would continue his arguments.
