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'What is the reason for these gifts?': Sharif family money trail under scrutiny in Supreme Court
[DAWN] The focus of the Panamagate hearing on Wednesday returned to a piece of agricultural land which Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... allegedly bought in the name of his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, in 2011. The court also inquired after large sums of money that were gifted by the premier's son Hussain Nawaz to his father. "We want to know the source of the amount, where such a big amount is coming from," Justice Ijazul Hassan posed a question to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's lawyer Makhdoom Ali Khan as a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa resumed hearing the case. The judge was referring to an amount of Rs510 million that, he said, Hussain Nawaz, gifted to his father over a period of four years. According to Justice Ijazul Hassan, the move signalled that a significant amount of money had been circulating. Makdhoom Khan told the court that an amount of Rs210m was sent by Hussain Nawaz in 2012 and another Rs129.8m was gifted by him in the same year. "It could be that this is black money. The son (Hussain Nawaz) sent the amount to the father (Nawaz Sharif) and the father bought the land in his daughter's (Maryam Nawaz's) name." Justice Khosa observed. The judge was referring to agricultural land spread over 5.38 acres in Mansehra ...  a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south...district, which is worth Rs243m. The land was declared under Maryam Nawaz's name by the prime minister in his 2011-12 income tax returns. "This property was not benami, was it?" asked Justice Gulzar Ahmed, referring to the agricultural land. "Why did Hussain Nawaz only give gifts to his father?" Justice Ijazul Hassan asked. Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed reiterated the bench's desire to see the records of transactions. "We are not speaking in Persian," he said. "Present the records," he told the PM's counsel. Posted by: Fred 2017-01-19 |
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