ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb Thursday said the Qatri prince, who was a material witness for the Sharif family, was not ascertained by the joint investigation team (JIT) probing the Panama Papers case notwithstanding the fact that he kept on asking for it.
Talking to media outside the accountability court, the minister said the Qatari prince kept on asking them to send the questionnaire to him for rendering answers but JIT head Wajid Zia used his discretion not to send it to him. She said they were still trying to ferret out some incriminating evidence against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, even after sending him home on the basis of an iqama.
The minister said that Wajid Zia deposed before the court that the questionnaire could not be sent due to lack of consensus among the members of the JIT. She posed a question as to what kind of JIT was it which was taking decisions on the basis of consensus rather than according to the law? She pointed out that they could not agree on sending the questionnaire but forged consensus on all other issues.
The minister said the NAB prosecutors have failed to tell why the elected prime minister was disqualified, adding even Wajid Zia who kept the key of the box in his pocket had no answer to it. She said the time had come for raising question on the real elements of the case. She said she wanted to inform the nation about the conversation that happened inside the court.
The minister said when the court asked the star witness of NAB, Wajid Zia, about his experience, he claimed that he had 29 years of experience in that kind of jobs. She revealed that when the lawyer of the Sharif Family asked him which law prevented him from sending out the questionnaire to the Qatari prince as per his experience, he had no answer and instead lost his cool.
She said PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif had declared it unequivocally that he would not let that joke be repeated with any future prime minister which was happening at the moment. She reiterated that Imran Khan was trying to build a narrative on the basis of mere lies.
The minister observed that the witnesses being presented by NAB were also giving statements in favour of Nawaz Sharif. Referring to the entry of Wajid Zia in the court through the backdoor, she remarked that had he done something right and legitimate he would have come through the front gate like the truthful Nawaz Sharif.
The minister said Nawaz Sharif was first victimised for making Pakistan a nuclear power and was now being punished for bringing CPEC to the country. She emphatically said due to the efforts of the government and sacrifices offered by the people and state institutions, back of the terrorists had been broken and those who left the country due to terrorism were coming back.
The minister said the homecoming of Malala Yousafzai was an auspicious occasion and a great tiding for Pakistanis which also signified the defeat of the terrorists.
Published in Daily Times, March 30th 2018.
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