- Avenfield Reference
- Says ISI and MI officials should not have been made party of the JIT
ISLAMABAD, May 24: The joint investigation team and its report are irrelevant in the case of Avenfield properties, said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz while recording her statement in the accountability court on Thursday.
During the hearing, Maryam told the court that report prepared by the JIT is an investigative document, which was unacceptable as an evidence.
Maryam said the Supreme Court ordered references be filed in light of the evidence presented by the JIT, but did not ask the JIT report to be made part of any reference as an evidence.
Maryam was of the view that the references filed over the JIT report cannot be presented as evidence.
While raising concerns over the members of JIT, Maryam said the appointment of Irfan Mangi as director general of Natonal Accountability Bureau was still under hearing at Supreme Court but he was made part of the investigation team regardless.
About the inclusion of Amer Aziz from State Bank of Pakistan in JIT, Maryam said he was close to the military dictator, General (retd) Pervez Musharraf. She added that Musharraf got Aziz appointed in NAB as the banking director in 2000.
Maryam also expressed reservation over the inclusion of Brigadier Noman Saeed, saying he was not working in Inter-Services Intelligence at the time of his appointment in JIT. The brigadier was outsourced as his salary was also not being shown on government records, she added.
Besides, Maryam said, according to her information Brigadier Saeed was also part of the Dawn Leaks enquiry committee.
However, she was of the view that ISI and Military Intelligence officials should not have been made party of the JIT.
Maryam reads out commas, full stops from statement in court
Maryam even read out commas and full stops from a document while recording her statement on Avenfield properties reference in the accountability court.
During the proceedings, accountability judge Mohammad Bashir asked Maryam not to go in the grammatical details of her statement, to which the latter said her counsel asked her to do so.-Agencies
