Islamabad: An accountability court in Pakistan today rejected ousted premier Nawaz Sharif's objections to the supplementary case filed against him and his family by the country's anti-graft body over properties in London.

 

The court holding trial in graft cases against Sharif and his family decided that the supplementary case would be made part of the record in the Avenfield flats case.

 

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on January 22 filed a supplementary case with the accountability court's registrar in Islamabad which is already trying Sharif and his family -- two sons Hussain and Hassan, daughter Maryam, and son-in-law Safdar -- for alleged corruption in three cases.

 

The cases are related to the Panama Papers scandal that had forced the 68-year-old three-time prime minister to resign.

 

Accompanied by daughter Maryam and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar, Sharif for the 15th time appeared in the court located in Islamabad.

 

During the hearing today, conducted by Judge Muhammad Bashir, Nawaz Sharif s lawyer Khawaja Haris had raised an objection over the supplementary reference, saying there is nothing new in it.

 

"The reference has been filed in line with the JIT report and no Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) report has so far been filed, said Haris.

 

According to him, the NAB had said that a supplementary reference would be filed when new evidence is found against the suspects but that is not the case. The supplementary reference had to be filed in reply to a legal consultation. 

 

Haris stressed that the supplementary reference was not as per the order of the top court and thus could not be accepted.

 

"The supplementary reference was filed to target Sharif and even in that reference, the same allegations already levelled in the interim reference were repeated," he said.

 

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

 

Sharif and his sons have been named in all three NAB cases, while Maryam and Safdar have been named only in the Avenfield case.

 

The political future of Sharif, who heads the country's most powerful political family and the ruling PML-N party, has been hanging in the balance since his ouster. If convicted, he could be jailed.

 

Sharif's family alleges that the cases are politically motivated.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Lucknow, May 11 (PTI): The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday said that more than 350 unauthorised religious sites, including madrasas, mosques, mazars and Eidgahs, have been identified and subjected to sealing or demolition in recent days, an official statement issued here said.

Acting on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's clear directive that no religious encroachment will be tolerated, the administration in districts such as Pilibhit, Shravasti, Balrampur, Bahraich, Siddharthnagar and Maharajganj has launched a sweeping campaign, it said.

The authorities have systematically identified illegal structures and taken strict action, continuing operations even on Sunday.

The chief minister has made it clear that encroachment in the name of any religion will not be allowed and all violators, especially those running unrecognised religious institutions, will face legal consequences, the statement said.

On May 10 and 11, 104 madrasas, one mosque, five mazars and two Eidgahs built illegally on public and private land were identified in Shravasti. All were issued notices and sealed, it said.

One illegal madrasa on public land was demolished and two unrecognized madrasas on private land were sealed, the statement added.

In Bahraich, officials identified 13 madrasas, eight mosques, two mazars and one Eidgah illegally constructed on government land.

After issuing notices, five were sealed and 11 were demolished, including eight madrasas, two mosques and one mazar, the statement said.

In Siddharthnagar, the authorities identified four mosques and 18 madrasas and one more madrasa for illegal construction. Notices were issued to these structures. Five madrasas were sealed and nine were demolished. In total, action was taken against 23 illegal structures in the district, it said.

In Maharajganj’s Nautanwa tehsil, Parsamalik village, an unrecognized madrasa operating on Maktab land was shut down based on a report submitted by the District Minority Welfare Officer.

The building’s keys were handed over to the local police station in-charge. So far, 29 madrasas and five mazars constructed through encroachment on public and private land have been demolished in the district.

In past two days in Lakhimpur Kheri, two mosques, one Eidgah on public land along with eight madrasas on private land were found to be illegally constructed.

Of the 13 structures identified, one was served a notice, nine were sealed and three have been demolished so far, the statement said.

The district authorities in Pilibhit have identified an illegal mosque built on public land in Bharatpur village, covering an area of 0.0310 hectares.

According to the district magistrate, a notice has been issued to the parties involved, seeking a response within 15 days. Action against the illegal construction will be taken after the notice period ends, it said.

On Sunday, an under-construction madrasa on public land in Virpur Semra village, Tulsipur tehsil, was demolished in Balrampur. So far, 30 madrasas, 10 mazars and one Eidgah have been demolished in the district.

Ten of them were built illegally on public land, while 20 were constructed without authorization on private land, the statement said.