Maryam sent to jail on judicial remand till October 9

[ahlam1399]

LAHORE: An accountability court has sent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz and her cousin, Yousaf Abbas, to jail on judicial remand until October 9, after it turned down a request by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to retain custody in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) case.Judge Ameer Muhammad Khan conducted the hearing during which Maryam and Abbas were produced on the expiry of their physical remand on Wednesday. The bureau had arrested Maryam and Abbas on August 8 and they remained on physical remand for 48 days.Strict security arrangements were made as policemen were positioned inside and outside the court in addition to officials of the anti-rioting force.At the outset of the proceedings, the NAB prosecutors, Hafiz Asad Ullah and Haris Qureshi, requested the court to extend their physical remand for another 15 days. They argued that their custody was further required to investigate about an agreement of division of properties owned by the Sharif family as it surfaced during the investigations recently.They argued that Maryam Nawaz’s assets did not correspond to her income in 2008 and Sharif family members had to be summoned for investigations in the matter. They claimed Maryam received an amount sent by Sadiqa Saeed through telegraphic transfers in 1998 and the same amount was transferred to the mills later.That same year, the accused received millions but the relation of the accused with the sender was “not clear”, they said, adding that Sadiqa also paid loan of the mills. The prosecutors further said the mills were shifted from Gojra to Rahim Yar Khan at a cost of over a billion rupees in 2015 whereas the sources of the amount had yet to be determined, they added.However, Defence counsel Amjad Pervaiz opposed the remand plea, arguing that the bureau had already took remand of the accused on the same grounds. He submitted that investigations had already been conducted into the matter whereas sale and purchase of shares of mills were done under the SECP rules and Companies Act.He argued that the bureau did not have any authority to investigate the matter whereas the SECP was empowered for action in this regard. He said the mills were established in 1991 and the shares were transferred in 2008 — whereas the anti-money laundering act was implemented in 2010 — and the same could not be implemented on past transactions.He said the Lahore High Court had already passed judgment over Sadiqa Saeed’s transfers in the Hudaibiya Papers Mills case, whereas the bureau was trying to mislead the court on the issue.He said the agreement of the division of properties of the Sharif family was in the bureau’s possession from day one whereas Mian Sharif died in 2004 and shares were divided in 2008. He said the bureau had levelled allegations of money laundering, but it has failed to provide any evidence in this regard.Subsequently, the court rejected request for extension in physical remand and sent the accused to jail on judicial remand till October 9. The court remarked that jail officials would decide whether the accused should be lodged in Camp Jail or Kot Lakhpat Jail after the counsel on behalf of Maryam Nawaz requested for shifting the accused to Kot Lakhpat.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/sFZKS_wepe0

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