By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad approved on Friday a plea of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) seeking its permission to auction the seized properties of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
The accountability judge directed the authorities concerned to auction the former premier’s moveable and immoveable properties and deposit the money to be earned through the auction into the national exchequer.
The bureau through its Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Khan Abbasi filed the application.
Abbasi stated that the accountability court had declared Sharif a proclaimed offender in the Toshakhana reference. Despite a lapse of six months, the former premier did not surrender himself before the court, he added.
He recalled that the court had declared Nawaz Sharif a proclaimed offender on August 17 and ordered attaching his property on Oct 1.
He pleaded with the court to allow auction of the properties of Sharif in accordance with the law.
The properties worth billions of rupees include Ittefaq Foundry, Hudaibia Paper Mills, Baksh Textile and Hudaibia Engineering. Furthermore, the assets of Sharif in Upper Mall Road area, the fish farm built on 110 acres of land, 20 acres of land in Lahore, a bungalow located in Murree, Shangla’s house, five luxurious cars registered against the name of the former prime minister will be auctioned.
The amount of three foreign and five Pakistani bank accounts will also be moved to the national kitty after the court’s approval.
Earlier, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz has approached an Islamabad accountability court against seizure of her father Nawaz Sharif’s property in the Toshakhana reference.
She filed an application in the court on behalf of her father. After an initial hearing, Judge Syed Asghar Ali issued notices to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and others to submit their response to the application by December 16.
Sharif’s seized house in Murree is registered in the name of his late wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, the application stated, adding it was purchased before the date mentioned in the reference. The house was divided among the family members after her death and a court had already given a verdict regarding the division, the application said.
