ISLAMABAD: Privatisation Minister Daniyal Aziz said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Friday, that the Panama case has been used to target the Sharif family.
He remarked that when the Panama case trial was ongoing, the lawyers of the petitioners accepted that Nawaz Sharif’s name is not present in the Panama papers.
“There is no document or any witness to prove the alleged guilt of the Sharif family," he added.
He also asked, “Where is [Finance Minister Ishaq] Dar’s name in the Panama papers?”
Earlier in the day, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) submitted four interim references against the Sharif family and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar before the accountability court on Friday.
Amid tight security, cartons full of documents from the NAB regional offices were ushered into the Islamabad Accountability Court amid much media hype as the Supreme Court's deadline expires today.
NAB Spokesperson Nawazish Ali told Geo News that all the references have been accepted for trial and nothing has been sent back.
Three of the references are against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam, son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar and sons Hussain and Hasan while another is against Dar.
If convicted, the accused can face up to 14 years imprisonment and lifelong disqualification from holding public office including the freezing of bank accounts and assets.
The references were filed in light of the Supreme Court's July 28 decision in the Panama Papers case. The bureau was given six weeks, from the date of the court's order, to file the reference in an accountability court while the court was granted six months to wrap up the proceedings.