Pak court adjourns Sharif trial hearing till Oct seven

Islamabad, Sept 4 (PTI) A Pakistani court on Thursday
adjourned till October seven the hearing of an application
seeking reopening of the trial of corruption cases against
former Premier Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shahbaz and other
members of their family.

A judge of a special court in Rawalpindi, which took up
the application for reopening the cases adjourned the matter
till Oct 7 and said he will not proceed with the matter as
many judges of anti-corruption courts are currently on leave.

A move by National Accountability Bureau (N.A.B.) to
reopen trial of the eight-year old cases had sparked a war of
words between the ruling P.P.P. and its former ally P.M.L.-N.

The move by the N.A.B., which is under the law ministry,
to reopen the cases came just nine days after Sharif pulled
the P.M.L.-N. out of the P.P.P.-led ruling coalition. The
cases were indefinitely adjourned on technical grounds by an
anti-corruption court last month.

P.M.L.-N. leaders said the move by the N.A.B. appeared to
be aimed at using anti-corruption courts against Sharif.
P.M.L.-N. leader Ahsan Iqbal, a close aide of Sharif, said
pursuing the cases smacked of "political bankruptcy".

However, distancing the P.P.P. from the move, Law
Minister Farooq Naek said the cases against the Sharif
brothers were initiated during Musharraf's rule.

Naek said the cases were not new and had been pending for
a "very long" time. "When the cases are pending for long,
prosecutors have the right to move an application," he said.
PTI RHL