ISLAMABAD: The in­v­estigation officer (IO) in the Avenfield properties reference admitted before the accountability court on Friday that due to the Supreme Court order, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had bypassed procedural requirements for filing the reference against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

During the cross-examination, NAB IO Mohammad Imran, who is the last prosecution witness in the reference, explained that under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999, the bureau at the very outset scrutinised a complaint and then conducted inquiry and investigation and in case it obtained tangible evidence, the NAB chairman authorised the filing of a reference in an accountability court.

In the instant case, he said, the “Supreme Court directed preparation and filing of reference and NAB authorised investigation straightaway”.

When lead defence counsel Khawaja Haris asked if the IO had collected any material from any department during the course of investigation before filing the reference, Mr Imran said no additional material was collected and the reference was filed on the basis of material which the Joint Investigation Team, headed by Wajid Zia, had obtained from the Federal Investi­gation Agency and NAB.

Mr Haris also read out the summons issued to Mr Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar on Aug 18 last year by IO Imran. Referring to the July 28, 2017 SC judgement, the summons stated: “NAB is going to file a reference against you [Sharif family] to comply with the order of apex court.”

The counsel also read out the Sharif family’s response to the summons, reminding the IO of various stages under the NAO 1999 before the filing of the reference.

IO Imran, who had earlier claimed that Mr Sharif was benamidar (fictitious owner) of the London properties, admitted that during the investigation he did not find any evidence that directly linked the accused with the properties in question. He said none of the witnesses stated that Mr Sharif was benami owner of Avenfield properties or Hussain Nawaz was a front man of his father.

The court adjourned the proceedings to May 7 after Mr Haris concluded the cross-examination of IO Imran. Advocate Amjad Pervez, the counsel for Maryam Nawaz and Capt Safdar, will cross-examine the IO at the next hearing.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2018