Former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif leaves for London to see his ailing wife

Ousted Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday left for London along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz to see his ailing wife Kulsoom Nawaz, despite the country's anti-graft body's request to put their names on the Exit Control List (ECL) fearing they may not return to face corruption cases in court. Sharif, 68, and his daughter left for London via Qatar from the Lahore airport this morning. "Leaving for London. We will be back next week. Can't wait to meet and hug Ami (mother)," Maryam tweeted. Leaving for London. Back next week IA. Can’t wait to meet & hug Ami. Request all for special dua for her health. May Allah bless you all. — Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) June 14, 2018 Kulsoom is in an advanced stage of throat cancer and is undergoing treatment in London. On the other hand, the caretaker government has neither rejected nor accepted the National Accountability Bureau's to place the Sharif family members on the ECL. The caretaker government could not decide whether to entertain NAB's request or not in this regard, an official of interior ministry said.

As military tightens grip, Pakistan's ex-PM Nawaz Sharif heads to London

Pakistan's deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday left for London along with his daughter to see his ailing wife amid speculations that he might not return because of a likely conviction in three corruption cases against him.

As Sharif's family spokesman did not reveal his return schedule, analysts here believe that it is likely that Sharif will skip his appearance before a combined investigation team of the National Accountability Bureau in Lahore on April 21.

NAB has summoned Sharif for allegedly misusing his authority for illegal construction of a road leading to his Jati Umra, Raiwind residence.

Sharif who was disqualified by the Supreme Court is due to appear in the accountability court on April 23 in a corruption case. But it is likely that he may skip it.

"Begum Kulsoom Nawaz has been under treatment in a hospital in London as her condition is serious," the family spokesperson said, adding that because of her serious condition Sharif and his daughter have to be with her.

SC barring Nawaz Sharif from heading PML-N may create havoc in Pakistan

The recent judgment on former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by the Supreme Court of Pakistan might create havoc in the country, according to a meeting chaired by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

An exigent meeting of MQM's Coordination and Central Executive Committees was held under the chair of Convener Dr. Nadeem Ehsan.

The meeting deliberated upon the ongoing overall situation in Pakistan particularly the latest judgment of the apex court of Pakistan.

The meeting unanimously rejected the Supreme Court's judgment, which has barred Nawaz Sharif to lead his political party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as its president.

Nawaz Sharif cannot lead his party PML(N), rules Pak Supreme Court

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a person disqualified under Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution cannot serve as the head of a political party, in a blow to Nawaz Sharif who will no longer remain the chief of the ruling PML-N.

Sharif, 68, was disqualified by the apex court in the Panama Papers case last year under Article 62 of the Constitution for failing to declare a receivable salary as an asset.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar today said that it is mandatory for a party head to fulfil the requirements of Articles 62 and 63 as a party head is powerful and political parties control the government, Dawn reported.

Ousted Pak PM Nawaz Sharif appears before anti-graft court to face trial

Pakistan's ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday appeared before an anti-graft court to face trial in corruption cases against him in the Panama Papers scandal that forced him to resign.

Sharif, 67, reached the court along with his daughter Maryam.

The former premier, who had left for Saudi Arabia on December 30 amid reports of a "deal" between the embattled Sharif family, returned to the country yesterday.

Three corruption cases were registered against him on September 8 following the Supreme Court verdict of July 28 that also disqualified Sharif as the prime minister and ordered National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for institution of cases.

The NAB produced two witnesses on the court today who recorded their statements and defence layer also cross-examined them.

The three cases pertain to the Al-Azizia Steel Mills, several companies including Flagship Investment Ltd, and London's Avenfield properties.

Sharif and some of his family members are facing charges relating to their overseas properties.

Last hearing of the case was held on December 19.

So far 10 witnesses have recorded their statement on behalf of the prosecution. This was the 11th time that Sharif has attended the hearing.

The political future of Sharif, who leads the country's most powerful political family and the ruling PML-N party, has been hanging in balance since then. If convicted, Sharif can be jailed.

Sharifs family alleges that the cases are politically motivated.
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Nawaz Sharif 'smartly deprived' Shehbaz chance to become PM: PML-N leaders

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif "smartly deprived" his younger brother Shehbaz an opportunity to become prime minister because of "family politics" despite nominating the Punjab chief minister as his eventual successor, according to some Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) leaders.

After his disqualification by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case on July 28, Nawaz had announced that Shehbaz would be prime minister for remaining 10-month tenure of the party after interim arrangements of 45-day for which Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was elected premier.

In the background interviews, some PML-N leaders said they are of the view that Shehbaz is made to miss a "golden opportunity" to succeed his elder brother as there has been no guarantee that he will get the same chance in 2018 in case PML-N wins the election as more players from the elder Sharif family will be there in the race for the top slot.

Sharif's wife Kalsoom will be a strong candidate for the prime minister's slot in case PML-N wins 2018 general election if his daughter - Maryam - is not cleared in corruption cases she is facing in the accountability courts by then," a top PML-N leader said.

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Panama verdict: Nawaz's brother Shehbaz Sharif tipped to be next Pak PM

Pakistan's Punjab province Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif is likely to be made Prime Minister after his brother Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court over the Panama Papers scandal, sources in the PML-N party said on Friday.

Shehbaz, 65, the current chief minister of Punjab, is the natural choice for the top post, sources in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party said.

"He is an untiring worker, hard task master, loyal to his brother and also in the good books of the powerful establishment," a source said.

However, he cannot immediately replace his brother as he is not a member of the National Assembly. In order to become the Prime Minister, he would first have to be elected to Parliament.

Hence, an interim Prime Minister would have to be chosen from among the confidants of Nawaz. The interim premier will resign once Shehbaz is elected to the National Assembly.

This would not be the first time such an arrangement would be worked out.

During former military ruler Pervez Musharraf's time, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was appointed as interim Prime Minister until Shaukat Aziz, who was nominated by Musharraf, got elected by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q).
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Chief Justice of Pakistan takes suo motu notice of teenage girl's rape

Pakistan Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar today took suo motu notice of the rape of a teenage girl in front of her family on the orders of the village council as a punishment, even as police arrested 25 people in the case.

The 16-year-old girl was raped by a man as a punishment on July 18 after her brother was accused of raping the man's sister in Rajpur village in Muzaffarabad in Punjab province.

Chief Justice Nisar ordered the inspector general of Punjab police to submit a report.

Meanwhile, police have arrested 25 members of the village council, including its chief. The panchayat comprising 20 members, including four women, had ordered Ashfaq to rape the girl in revenge for the earlier rape of his sister.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, younger brother of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, visited Rajpur village and met both the victims and assured that they would get justice.

He sacked all police officials of the Muzaffarabad police station for their 'criminal role' in the incident.
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PM revealed his Dubai job in 2013 election papers: Nawaz Sharif's lawyer

Denying that his client had concealed his employment in Dubai based company, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's lawyer, Khawaja Harris has submitted a written reply in the Supreme Court on Saturday, stating that Prime Minister mentioned his Dubai job and Iqama in nomination papers of 2013.

The written reply has details of employment of Prime Minister Sharif at Capital FZE, Dubai-based company and had received an iqama (work permit) from the Gulf. The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) had raised the question after unearthing an offshore company related to the Prime Minister during investigations into the money laundering allegations against the Sharif family during the Panamagate hearings, the Dawn reported.

A three-member bench of the Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday concluded the entire hearings and reserved the judgment in the Panamagate case in which Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family are accused of amassing offshore assets. The date of the judgment is yet to be announced and if convicted, Prime Minister Sharif can face disqualification from politics.

"The allegation that the employment with Capital FZE was concealed by the prime minister is totally false," reads the reply.

A copy of the premier's passport bearing the work permit was annexed to the 2013 nomination papers, along with a document of his employment at the company, according to the reply.
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Nawaz Sharif contests Panama charges; Pak SC wants proof of money trail

Embattled Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today contested the graft charges against him and his family in the Supreme Court, saying the Panama probe panel did not produce any document to prove that he was the owner of the posh London flats which are at the centre of the high- profile case.

The apex court had started hearing the scandal on Monday after the JIT submitted its final report on July 10, recommending that a corruption case be file against Sharif and his family for alleged money laundering in the 1990s, when he twice served as prime minister, to purchase assets in London.

Sharif's lawyer Khawaja Harris stressed that the JIT "did not level any specific charge of corruption against Sharif."

He also said that the JIT has not produced any document to prove that Sharif, 67, was the owner of the London flats.

Harris's arguments were directed at the six-member JIT, two of whom were from the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Military Intelligence.

He said the JIT had overstepped its mandate given to it by the court and had based its findings on the documents, which were of no evidentiary value as per the Pakistani laws.

If Sharif loses the case in the Supreme Court, it could cost him his premiership, throwing Pakistan into a turmoil.
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Panama Papers probe: Pak PM Nawaz Sharif rejects demands for resignation

Pakistan's beleaguered Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today refused to step down even as the clamour for his resignation got louder after the Panama case probe panel recommended filing of a graft case against him and his family.

Addressing an emergency Cabinet meeting here, 67-year-old Sharif termed the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report a pack of "allegations and speculation", Dawn reported.

The six-member JIT, probing Sharif family's offshore assets and alleged corruption, in a 10-volume damning report submitted to the Supreme Court on July 10 recommended that a corruption case should be filed against Sharif and his sons — Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz — as well as daughter Maryam.

At the first Cabinet meeting after the submission of the JIT report to the apex court, Sharif said that he will not resign as the prime minister on anyone's call.

"The people of Pakistan have elected me and only they can remove me from this post," Prime Minister Sharif said, responding to the opposition parties who have been demanding his resignation following the release of the report.

Sharif claimed that his family "earned nothing after entering politics, but lost a lot".

The language used in the JIT report displays malafide intentions, he said.

"The Prime Minister said that he will not resign on the demand of a group of conspirators," Radio Pakistan reported.
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Now, Nawaz Sharif's daughter accused of 'Fontgate'; Twitter goes berserk

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz was in the midst of a raging controversy on Tuesday after the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the Panamagate graft case against her family alleged that she submitted fake documents. JIT accused Maryam of presenting tampered documents on two 2006 declarations to the probe team. Interestingly, the font used in the documents pertaining to the year 2006 is "Calibri", which was not commercially available until January 30, 2007.

The JIT said Maryam Nawaz, her brothers Hussain and Hassan Nawaz, as well as her husband Captain Mohammad Safdar (retd), had signed false documents to mislead the Supreme Court.

The controversy

The members of JIT, after having received the documents from Maryam Nawaz, forwarded the documents to a British forensic handwriting firm which revealed that the ‘Calibri’ font used by Maryam in its documents had not been made available by Microsoft at the time. According to a report of Express Tribune, the font used in documents suggested that the 2006 declarations were fake and it is a federal crime.

Earlier, JIT in its 10-volume report submitted to the apex court recommended that a corruption case should be filed against Sharif and his sons Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz, as well as daughter Maryam Nawaz, under the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordinance 1999.
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Nawaz Sharif's elder son appears before Panama probe panel for sixth time

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif elder son Hussain Nawaz on Tuesday appeared before a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) for the sixth time, probing the high- profile Panamagate graft case against his family.

Hussain Nawaz arrived at the Federal Judicial Academy (FJA) and was questioned by the six-member JIT set up by the Supreme Court.

In its judgement of April 20 in the Panama Papers case, the Supreme Court had constituted a JIT and empowered it to summon the prime minister, his sons and any other person necessary, to investigate allegations of money laundering, through which the four apartments in London's posh Park Lane area were purchased.

On May 5, the Supreme Court set up a high-level six-member JIT to probe Sharif and his sons' alleged corruption in the Panama Papers case.

It has already questioned Sharif and several others of his family, including his sons - Hussain and Hasan over the family's alleged improper business dealings.

Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz will appear tomorrow before the JIT for the first time.

Sharif has denied any wrongdoing and said the property was purchased through the money his later father had invested in the Gulf states.

The JIT is expected to complete its probe by July 10 and submit a report to the apex Court, which will decide fate of Sharif. The JIT comprises anti-corruption officials, along with members of the powerful spy agency ISI and the Military Intelligence.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Nawaz Sharif appears before panel probing Panama money laundering case

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday appeared before a Supreme Court-appointed team probing the Panamagate graft case, becoming Pakistan's first sitting premier to depose before such a panel.

"The day that creates history and sets a much required and welcome precedent for others to emulate," Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz tweeted along with pictures of the PML-N leader and his top aides just before leaving for the Judicial Academy - the JIT's temporary secretariat - amid tight security.

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) chief Wajid Zia had summoned the prime minister to appear before the six-member probe team on June 15 with all documents relevant to the case.

The summons was issued to Sharif after he returned last Saturday from Kazakhstan where he had attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.

In its judgement of April 20 in the Panama Papers case, the Supreme Court had constituted a JIT and empowered it to summon the prime minister, his sons and any other person necessary, to investigate allegations of money-laundering, through which the four apartments in London's posh Park Lane area were purchased.

Sharif has denied any wrongdoing.

The Joint Investigation Team had questioned Sharif's sons -- Hussain and Hasan -- last month over the family's alleged improper business dealings.

His eldest son Hussain was questioned five times while Hasan, the younger son, was summoned twice.

The court last year took up the case and issued a split decision over allegations of money laundering when Sharif was prime minister in 1990s.
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Speculation swirls over possible Modi, Sharif meet at SCO Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attended a reception and a gala show, marking the beginning of the two-day-long SCO Summit, even as speculation swirled over a possible meeting between him and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to defuse tensions in bilateral ties.

Modi, Sharif, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping were among the top leaders who attended the reception hosted by Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev. It was not known whether Modi and Sharif exchanged pleasantries at the reception.

When asked whether he will have a meeting with Modi, Sharif, before leaving for the reception, only smiled and waved at the media persons which many interpreted as an indication of a possible meeting or at least a pull aside between the two leaders.

Sartaj Aziz, the Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs, too did not respond to a query on a possible Modi-Sharif tete-e-tete.

India has been maintaining that there was neither any request from the Pakistani side nor any such proposal from the Indian side for a Modi-Sharif meeting.

Both Modi and Sharif arrived in Kazakhstan's capital to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit which will tomorrow induct both India and Pakistan as its full members.

Ties between India and Pakistan have nosedived over a range of issues including beheading of two soldiers by the Pakistan military along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir and the death sentence handed down to former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav by a military court in Pakistan on charges of spying. The International Court of Justice has stayed Jadhav's execution.

The Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir has also been witnessing rising tensions.

The events related to the SCO Summit got underway with a spectacular concert this evening.

Indian classical dance Kathak was the first to be featured after the host nation Kazakhstan's ensemble.

Eight dancers from Bengaluru-based NADAM put up 'Mahaganapathim' -- an ode to the god of auspicious beginnings, Lord Ganesha.

India was the only observer country to perform in the concert which featured traditional and western classical music and dance performances from China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, apart from the hosts.
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Pak govt acting like 'Sicilian Mafia', says SC judge

Pakistan government on Thursday earned the ire of a Supreme Court judge who likened it to 'Sicilian Mafia' after a lawmaker of the ruling PML-N made "threatening remarks" against judges and the investigators probing graft allegations against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Senator Nehal Hashmi in a speech threatened those creating trouble for the family of Sharif who is facing a high-level probe for alleged syphoning off money to buy properties in London.

"Listen! You ask the son of Nawaz Sharif to submit his account detail. Who are you to ask him his account details? We are the workers of Nawaz Sharif. We will make an example of those who hold us accountable," Hashmi told an audience this week in the short video clip.

It has been interpreted as direct threat to judges and a team of investigators probing Sharif and his sons.

The court yesterday took suo moto notice of the threat and today held its hearing.

The three-member panel headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan expressed strong displeasure at the "threatening remarks" used by the lawmaker and directed him submit a written response by June 5.

Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh, a member of the bench, said the incumbent government was acting like "the Sicilian Mafia, which would threaten judges".

The court also observed that a systematic campaign was being run by the government against judges of the apex court and the Joint Investigation Team (JIT).

It also appointed Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali as prosecutor and directed him to collect material related to the case.

The court rejected a plea by Ali seeking a ban on talk shows about Panama case and JIT probing Sharif's family.

PML-N has distanced itself from Hashmi's remarks and issued him a show cause notice for the outburst.

He has also resigned from Senate after facing criticism.
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