Maryam moves IHC against AC

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: PML-N leaders Maryam Nawaz, and Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar moved Islamabad High Court (IHC) challenging Accountability Court’s decision dated February 2.

The accountability court on February 2 allowed NAB to record statements of two witnesses of prosecution via video link at the Pakistan High Commission in London in the supplementary reference against Sharif family regarding Ave-nfield Apartments. The petitioner through their counsel Amjad Pervaiz filed the petition in the registrar office of IHC on Wednesday.

Amjad Pervaiz took the stance that in a criminal trial the attendance of the witnesses before a court is necessary unless the same was dispensed with subject to the conditions mentioned in Sectio-503 Cr. P.C. He pleaded that in the instant case the reasons stated as excuse to attend the court were imaginary and not supported by any material.

As per the declaration attached with the expert report, the witness Robert M Radley, the Principal at the Radley Forensic Document Laboratory, declared that ” he may attend the court for cross examination and he had not made his attendance conditional, he added. Pervaiz alleged that impugned order was also “violative of fundamental right of access to justice, treatment accordance with law, due process and fair trial guaranteed vide Article 10 (A) of the constitution, to my clients.

” The counsel requested the court to declare impugned order dated February, 2 as illegal, without lawful authority and the same be set aside. In alternative, the order be modified with directions for adequate representation of the petitioners during examination of witnesses at the High Commission of London in the interest of justice, he prayed the court.