Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was a victim of politically victimization through a reference filed by the PTI-led government and the proper legal procedure was not followed to declare him a proclaimed offender, read the detailed accountability court ruling on his acquittal in a 37-year-old property case.
Issued on Thursday, the judgment—announced on June 24—suggested the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) might have been “constrained” to prepare the reference at the behest of the former government to destroy the political career and goodwill of the accused. It, subsequently, ordered NAB and the Federal Board of Revenue to unfreeze the properties of Nawaz Sharif and 27 shareholders.
“If the mandatory conditions are not met, then the entire proceedings to declare an accused a proclaimed offender become illegal and void ab-initio,” read the judgment, explaining that proper procedure was not followed to declare the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) a proclaimed offender. “The record reflects that the accused Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had become the victim of political victimization, and perhaps the NAB authorities were constrained to prepare the reference at the behest of the-then ruling junta to damage and destroy the political career and goodwill of the accused, who had been three-time elected prime minister of Pakistan,” it said.
Judge Rao Abdul Jabbar Khan’s verdict stated that the order declaring Sharif a proclaimed offender “was not in line” with the parameters devised by the Supreme Court. It noted that the earlier order, penned by a judge who has since retired, had both declared Sharif a proclaimed offender, and ordered an auction of his assets. It said the case record did not outline the procedure followed to declare Sharif a proclaimed offender, i.e. the issuance of warrants and publication of proclamations.
“The court was never supposed to be a silent spectator, sitting with blind eyes and deaf ears,” stated the ruling, adding that Sharif was entitled to the same relief given to the principal accused, having a lesser role and better legal footing compared to the acquitted accused. It said there had been no loss to the Lahore Development Authority from any act of the accused or co-accused as the prosecution admitted that the reserved price had been paid in time.
The proceedings in the case started under the PTI-led government in 2020 after NAB filed a reference alleging that Jang Group owner Mir Shakilur Rehman had illegally obtained exemption of 54 plots in Lahore’s Johar Town in 1986. It further alleged that the allotment was made in connivance with then-Punjab chief minister Nawaz Sharif for monetary gains. Rehman and his co-accused, former LDA director-general Humayon Faiz Rasool and former LDA director of land development department Mian Bashir Ahmad, were all acquitted on Jan. 31.
Corrective actions
Reacting to the detailed judgment’s issuance on Twitter, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said it was essential to “fix” the past actions against Nawaz, his elder brother, to steer the country toward prosperity. Stressing that he had always known that Nawaz had been “framed” in the Panama Papers scandal to oust him from politics, he also referred to a recent interview of PTI lawyer Hamid Khan in which the latter had alleged that the decision to disqualify the former prime minister was taken before the matter even reached courts.
“The recent revelations by PTI’s senior lawyer and journalist about how Nawaz Sharif was deliberately framed in the Panama Papers with the aim of ousting him from government and banning him from politics is what we know from day one,” wrote the prime minister, adding that it was “very important” that such information be exposed.