Law secretary assures SC of extending tenure of judge hearing NAB references
Law secretary Chaudhry Nazeer Ahmed said that the extension will be done before March 12.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The ministry of law has on Wednesday assured the Supreme Court of Pakistan to extend the tenure of accountability court Judge Mohammad Bashir, who is hearing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) references against Sharif family.
Responding to the notice taken by the apex court earlier today, law secretary Chaudhry Nazeer Ahmed said that the extension will be done before March 12 over which, the court ordered to inform about the development in the case on March 10.
Since September 2017, Justice Mohammad Bashir is hearing London flats, Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Flagship Investment references against ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (r) Safdar and also leading assets beyond income case against former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
He was appointed in 2012 while the federal government, on the suggestion of IHC, extended his tenure for three years in 2015. Now, the judge is going to retire on March 13 this year.
Earlier, IHC had forwarded summary to law secretary seeking to extend the tenure of Justice Bashir for timely completion of hearings against the Sharif family. However, no action has been taken so far.
SC disqualified Sharif from office in July over unreported sources of annual income of about $10,000, a salary the former premier denies ever receiving. The high court also ordered the NAB to investigate and conduct a trial into the Sharif family’s wider finances, including the London properties.
Sharif has also been ousted from the presidency of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, which elected close ally Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as prime minister after Sharif was disqualified.
