Nawaz calls JIT probe ‘ biased’ , requests dismissal

Ex-prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif on Monday has requested the court to dismiss the statements recorded by Panama Joint Investigation Team (JIT).

During the hearing headed by accountability court judge Justice Mohammad Arshad, the former PM continued to record his statement in Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference.

He said that a joint plea has already been submitted in the Supreme Court (SC), adding that JIT is not more than an investigation agency and that its probe was biased and without proof.

He told the court that the money deposited in his account from abroad was documented correctly in FBR records, whereas a plea was submitted in the Supreme Court on his behalf rejecting the “so-called evidence” and report presented by the JIT.

The former premier said that he has pointed out in the plea that the JIT is a mere investigative body and hence, any statement recorded by it cannot be presented as evidence in the court.

He alleged that the JIT’s investigation was biased and not backed by evidence.

Nawaz has recorded his responses to 120 out of the 151 questions listed on the questionnaire.

During Friday’s hearing of the case, he had admitted gifting 77 per cent of the money received from abroad to his daughter Maryam Nawaz.

He had told the court that he had never been a part of any transactions related to the sale of Al-Azizia steel mills, and that all the money he had received from abroad had been documented in his tax returns, and that he was free to spend it as he wished.