Accountability court verdict mentions patriarchy in Sharif family

ISLAMABAD: In his verdict against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his sons in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case, Accountability Court Judge Arshad Malik made interesting remarks about patriarchy in Sharif family.

The judge held in his decision announced on Monday that from the time of Mian Muhammad Sharif, the late father of former PM, the concept of benami for holding the properties abroad was a routine practice within the Sharif family.

While discussing the non-appearance of Nawaz’s sons Hussain before the Supreme Court to present the money trail, the Judge said: “The Accused No. 1 (Nawaz), No. 2 (Hassan Nawaz) and No. 3 (Hussain Nawaz) are very closely related and members of a tightly knit, monolithic, patriarchal family with close association and jointly held financial and business interests.”

According to verdict there was nothing on record to even remotely suggest any estrangement, antagonism, hostility or antipathy between the three. “On the contrary, before the JIT, the two sons have given the impression of a tightly knit family where the decisions are made by the patriarch which are not questioned or challenged by other younger family members who may be merely informed of the same subsequently,” the judgment reads.

It says accused Hussain Nawaz Sharif is the person who claimed himself to be the sole proprietor of Hill Metals Establishment (HME) and admits sending of remittances from KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Rabia) to accused Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif but has not opted to appear.

“Accused No. 3, Hussain Nawaz Sharif, was the person who could have deposed on oath to prove the stance put forth before the Supreme Court and to furnish and place on record money trail so as to dislodge the presumption against the Accused No. 1 (Nawaz Sharif) but significantly, he has not opted to appear,” the decision said.

The judge further wrote that the fact that the late father of Nawaz did indulge in the practice of holding “assets”; and “property” (within the meaning of the Ordinance) indirectly, through one or more benamidars, had also been proved from the evidence on record, “which shows that GSM (Gulf Steel Mill) was held in the name of the cousin of the Accused No. 1 (i.e. one Tariq Shafi) but the latter was not its true beneficial owner.”

This too, the judge wrote, was a strong indicator of the fact that concept of benami and using the same as device for holding the properties abroad, so that the identity the real beneficial owner(s) remains shrouded in secrecy, “was a routine practice within the family of the accused.”

According to verdict, the court was satisfied that the accused No. 1 (Nawaz) was one of the most influential members of the monolithic and tightly connected Sharif family and that after the death of his father in October 2004, he was for all practical purposes the head of and most influential member of the Sharif family.