The Accountability Court released a detailed judgment on Friday rejecting Nawaz Sharif’s petition to club together the three NAB references against his family.
Sharif family’s counsel had previously argued that since the three references were similar and pertained to the same family, they should be clubbed together into one.
However, Judge Muhammad Bashir rejected this petition on 8th Nov and released a judgment on Friday detailing his reasoning.
The court stated that clubbing the three references together may cause complications and confusion in the trial. The reasoning pointed out that NAB may add supplementary references implicating others which will lead to complications if the references are clubbed together.
After explaining its reasoning, the court categorically dismissed all three interconnected applications filed by Nawaz Sharif’s counsel for the merging of references against the Sharif family.
The judge also said that since Nawaz Sharif’s sons Hassan and Hussain – who are also accused in the case – have been absconding, it is possible that “on their appearance in the court they may take different stances in respect of a joint trial of three references”.
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The three references deal with different assets and are associated with different sections of the law, the court added.
After explaining its reasoning, the court categorically dismissed all three interconnected applications filed by Nawaz Sharif’s counsel for the merging of references against the Sharif family.
Why Sharif’s lawyers are focusing on procedural issues?
Legal experts and analysts have put forth several reasons which explain why Sharif’s legal team has so keenly focused on technical issues.
The sons of Nawaz Sharif who are absconding at the moment may subsequently appear and challenge the clubbing of references creating additional complexity and delays.
Firstly, raising technical points such as this application buys valuable time for Nawaz and his family. If the lawyers are successful in delaying the trial with technical issues, the public and media’s focus on the trial may soon dissipate. The Sharif family can also employ this time in exploring other options to secure themselves.
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Also, as pointed out by the accountability court, the sons of Nawaz Sharif who are absconding at the moment may subsequently appear and challenge the clubbing of references creating additional complexity and delays.
Secondly, by focusing on technicalities and procedural issues, the Sharif lawyers appear to be diverting attention from substantive issues. The issues like the financial transactions between Al-Azizia Steel Mills, Hill Metal Est. and FZE Capital – if discussed in court and then subsequently by media – will be extremely damaging to the politics of Sharif family.