ISLAMABAD: September 29, 2022; In a major development that is going to have blasting affect on Pakistan’s politics in coming days and a big victory to Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN), Islamabad High Court (IHC) has overturned conviction of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) vice president, Maryam Nawaz , and her spouse , Captain (Retd) Safdar in Even Field corruption reference case.
Soon after the announcement of IHC, Maryam Nawaz received a call from her father Nawaz Sharif from London to congratulate her over acquittal in the Even Field case. After Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz also received a phone call from prime minister, Shahbaz Sharif.
The court had convicted Maryam Nawaz and her husband Captain (Retd) Safdar in Even Field corruption reference in 2018.
Maryam Nawaz acquittal in Even Field has paved way for her taking practical part in Pakistan’s politics.
Maryam Nnawaz has stood firm during the last six years of conviction and kept on fighting against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rule. She exposed PTI chairman, Imran Khan, and his other party leadership to resist their intriguing media war in particular on social media.
Maryam Nawaz also tried to plug off the gap created in PMLN due to absence of Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan .
Speaking to her father and uncle , Maryam Nawaz prayed to God for her and her spouse’s acquittal in Even field corruption reference case and called it winning of truth and facts in the court of law.
Responding to media persons’ question outside IHC , Maryam Nawaz did not give direct reply to a question relating to her contesting the election after today’s acquittal in Even Field reference . She said Mian Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and other party leadership will decide when and where she should contest the election.
Earlier, a 2-member bench, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, heard the arguments from both parties.
Amjad Pervaiz’s Maryam’s counsel and NAB prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi appeared before the court.
During the hearing, Justice Kiyani remarked that the opinion of the investigating officer could not be considered as evidence. He observed that the joint investigation team did not present any fact, it just collected information.
NAB prosecutor observed that he will present the documents that show these properties of Even Field were purchased in 1999.
Justice Kayani also inquired about the other documents the prosecution had produced apart from oral statements. “What is the position of Nawaz Sharif regarding this case?” the judge asked, to which Muzaffar replied that Nawaz’s position was that he had no relation to the property.
The court remarked that if Nawaz maintained that he had no link, then the prosecution had to prove it.
The court observed that Muzaffar’s statements were contradictory, adding that the NAB prosecutor had said at the previous hearing that Maryam had no role in purchasing the properties.
“Usman [Cheema] clearly said that Maryam had nothing to do with the properties in 1993. You’re saying that Maryam’s connection was there from the beginning,” Justice Farooq remarked, adding that NAB should first make itself clear on the issue and then inform the court.
Muzaffar replied that Nawaz had bought properties in London in Maryam’s name while being a public office holder.
Justice Farooq told Muzaffar to prove his claims with evidence, further remarking that NAB had no case apart from the various applications filed.
“The details could have been taken if Wajid Zia knew that the properties were worth $5 million. It was not difficult at all to get the details of the properties,” the judge remarked, to which Muzaffar replied that determining the value of properties was not relevant.
Justice Farooq pointed out that Muzaffar was “absolutely wrong” in saying that the determination of value was irrelevant.
At one point, Justice Farooq observed that the Sharif family’s stance was that they had bought the properties in 2006. “Despite their admission, Nawaz is not related [to the case],” he remarked.
Justice Kayani also observed that on the basis of these documents, the NAB had prepared the entire case against Maryam. “In the entire case by the NAB, there is no [mention] of Nawaz,” Justice Farooq noted.
Justice Farooq remarked that a property being in a daughter’s name did not necessarily mean that it was owned by the father.
The NAB prosecutor contended that the Sharif family had not submitted any documents in its defence.
At that, Justice Farooq said, “Why should they have presented any documents? It was not their job. The NAB had to prove [the case against them].”
Justice Kayani added, “They should have stood silently. They should not have said anything.”
Meanwhile, Justice Farooq said that the case commenced in 2006 but the accountability bureau took it all the way back to 1993. “The Sharif family had nothing to do with the properties in 1993,” he observed.
Justice Kayani concurred, saying that according to the Sharif family’s admission, the case against them was registered in 2006.
He noted that Maryam being written down as the beneficial owner was just an opinion and there was no evidence for it. “The case that NAB has made is against Maryam Nawaz and not against Nawaz Sharif,” he added.
Here, Justice Farooq pondered here how the case was merited since the PML-N vice president was not any public office holder.
“If they did not have their own admission then there would have been no case against them. The Sharif families had nothing to do with the properties in 1993,” Justice Farooq noted.
Furthermore, Justice Kayani pointed out that it was now clear the ownership of the properties belonged to the companies and then called on NAB to show the link of the companies to Nawaz or Maryam.
Captain (retd) Safdar was convicted on the basis of the trust deed. Even if we consider that this is a fake document, all parties are accepting it, he said, adding that there was a possibility that the document was “false and prepared later”.
Justice Kiyani also inquired if Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz or Captain Safdar were ever arrested in the case. “No, none of them were arrested,” the NAB prosecutor replied.
Subsequently, the court reserved its verdict.
The reference
On July 6, a few weeks before the elections in 2018, the accountability judge of Islamabad, who was working under the supervision of an apex court judge, convicted the Sharif family in the Avenfield apartment reference.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was handed 10 years as jail time for owning assets beyond known income and one year for not cooperating with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Meanwhile, Maryam was given 7 years for abetment after she was found “instrumental in concealment of the properties of her father” and one year for non-cooperation with the bureau.
Safdar was given one year jail time — for not cooperating with NAB, and aiding and abetting Nawaz and Maryam.
The Sharif family had filed appeals against its conviction before the IHC in the second week of August 2018. The court had on Sep 18 the same year suspended their sentences and released them on bail.
In October last year, Maryam filed a new application, along with extremely relevant, simple and clear-cut facts, with the IHC seeking annulment of that verdict.
In her application, Maryam stated that the entire proceedings that resulted in her conviction were a “classic example of outright violations of law and political engineering hitherto unheard of in the history of Pakistan”.
She also attached a reference to the speech made by former IHC judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui at the District Bar Association, Rawalpindi on July 21, 2018, wherein he had claimed that the country’s top intelligence agency was involved in manipulating judicial proceedings.
