Court rejects plea to include JIT report as admissible evidence

ISLAMABAD: The accountability court Thursday rejected a plea to include the entire Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report as admissible evidence in the trial against the Sharif family in Avenfield properties reference.

The request was made by Federal Investigation Agency Additional Director Wajid Zia, who was head of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted in the Panama Papers case, to probe the corruption allegations against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members.

Wajid Zia deposed before accountability court judge Muhammed Bashir as the final witness of the prosecution in the Avenfield properties reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Counsel for the Sharif family Amjad Parviz had argued that a report could not be held as evidence. The report contained opinion of the JIT, which could not be admitted as evidence. The only admissible evidence was what Zia himself had collected, he added.

Citing many court judgments, including one of 1958, he said the JIt report was just an investigation which was not an admissible evidence. “Each volume of the report contains a section called “summary of investigation”, which includes the JIT’s opinion," he said, adding that the Supreme Court had also referred to the report as an investigation.

The judge agreed and ordered Zia to record his statement as regards the JIT report material related to the Avenfield case.

Meanwhile, leading counsel for the Sharif family Khawaja Haris requested the court to grant exemption to his client as he was not feeling well which was accepted by the court. Nawaz Sharif left early while Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar remained present in the court as cross-examination of Wajid Zia continued.

Later, the court adjourned the hearing till March 15.