Avenfield Apartments case: Hiring kin as witness classic example of nepotism, AC told

[ahlam1399]

ISLAMABAD: Forwarding final arguments in the Avenfield Apartments corruption case in the accountability court, legal counsel for Maryam Nawaz and Captain (R) Muhammad Safdar, Amjad Pervez advocate Friday said the hiring of first cousin by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) head Wajid Zia was a classic example of nepotism.He said Akhtar Riaz Raja of Quist Solicitor was not an impartial witness but an interested witness which was evident from the tenor of his statement and selection of words like “Frankenstein version of forgeries etc.He said Raja was hired for mainly three purposes: first, he wrote an email to Jeremy Freeman for confirmation of Nielsen, Nescoll and Coomber group trust deeds; second, he hired Robert Radley as forensic expert; and third he wrote a commentary about Avenfield properties that was based on an article published in Dawn newspaper.”Amjad said the Supreme Court had directed in its May 5, 2017 order that the JIT could hire a local or foreign expert for facilitation in Panama case probe. He said by hiring a solicitor in London, the JIT misused its mandate. It is beyond comprehension why the services of solicitor were required when the JIT could directly hire a forensic expert.“Further, when it was required to write commentary based on an article of a newspaper, anyone in Pakistan and even my junior counsel could do that,” advocate Pervez said.He said Raja never came across the order of Justice Queen’s bench division in Al-Towfeek case against Hudabiya paper mill.He had no personal knowledge of the matter and his commentary was just an opinion.During cross-examination, when Raja was questioned about the amount of fee for his services, he said it was privileged communication.On the contrary, he in his email to Jeremy Freeman had inquired about the fee he’d received from Hussain Nawaz.About the statement of Robert Radley, Amjad Pervez said the first test for a witness’s testimony was his truthfulness. Radley, however, failed that test and his testimony is also uncorroborated with any evidence that is necessary under the law.Talking about advocate Mazhar Raza Bangash who while representing a law firm had served Justice Queen’s Bench division London order on members of Sharif family in Pakistan and also appeared before AC as a witness, Maryam’s counsel said he in his statement denied his statement being recorded by the JIT. Also the order of Justice Queen’s bench is a photocopy and hence inadmissible.The order of Justice Queen’s bench was also irrelevant to the charge framed against his clients as there was no mention of Nawaz Sharif, Hussain Nawaz, Hassan Nawaz and Maryam Nawaz. Such an order may be brought on evidence but it has to pass the test of law of evidence first that it did not.The said order is based on two witness statements of Shezi Nackvi whereas Shezi Nackvi never appeared before this court and the two witness statements he had recorded before Justice Queen’s Bench in October and November 1999 were also not before this court.In his two witness statements, Nackvi had told Justice Queen’s Bench that his statement was based on a report of Rehman Malik whom the JIT had declared a liar. Further, even the director general (DG) Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) also did not own the statement of Rehman Malik and importantly when there was government of a military dictator General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/4jkd6gBZ7Y4

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