Sugar Mills case: Nawaz remanded in NAB custody for 14 days

LAHORE: Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif was handed over to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday on 14-day physical remand in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case, Geo News reported.

Strict security measures were put in place, with routes leading to the accountability court being closed ahead of the PML-N leader’s appearance.During the hearing, the accountability watch-dog had requested for Sharif’s physical remand. The NAB prosecutor told the court that in 2016, Sharif had the highest number of shares as a shareholder in Chauhdry Sugar Mills and Shamim Sugar Mills. The former was established in 1992.

The NAB prosecutor further told the court that in 1992 Nawaz was the owner of shares worth Rs43million, adding Maryam Nawaz, Shahbaz Sharif and others were shareholders. “Sharif did not say how many shares he owned in 1992. He was provided with Rs15.5 million from a foreign company,” he told the court.

A day earlier, the NAB chairman had issued arrest warrant for the PML-N leader. The NAB said the accused committed money-laundering for purchasing shares in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills. Sharif’s daughter Maryam is also on judicial remand in the same jail in connection with Chaudhry Sugar Mills case, while nephew Yousaf Abbas is at Camp Jail on judicial remand in the same case.

Speaking to the media outside the accountability court before his appearance, Sharif said he fully supports Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Azadi march. He said he appreciated Fazl’s spirit and fully supported him. “We consider Fazl’s position as our own and support it. If Maulana is protesting, then that is fine.”

The PML-N leader further said: “Maulana Fazl had suggested tendering resignation right after the election. He had suggested we protest, but we had convinced him otherwise at the time. I believe we were wrong at that time.”