LONDON: The Westminster Magistrates' Court has ruled that the complete files of the National Crime Agency in the money laundering investigation of Shehbaz Sharif and Suleiman Sharif can be released to the Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) of Pakistan.
District Judge Godfrey has ruled in Westminster Magistrates' Court on an application from the ARU that it needed access to the full files of the NCA's money-laundering investigation into Shehbaz Sharif and others, as a special report in The News revealed. The NCA had dropped a high. Profile investigation of Shahbaz and his son after finding no evidence of money laundering, criminal conduct and abuse of public office.
The full file, when released soon, will confirm the story published on The News and Jio. District Judge Godfrey ruled that it was in the interest of open justice that the entire file should be released as The News had already published portions of it and some of its contents were already in the public domain and also That several court hearings had taken place, as the investigation was going on, were not privately held.
News reports had revealed that the ARU was involved in extensive cooperation with NCA investigators several months before the investigation began in December 2019 and until the case was closed in November 2021.
The judge ruled that it was appropriate to release the entire NCA file, but the judge ordered that Sharif, Zulfiqar Ahmed and the NCA have the right to modify portions of the files containing personal information. It is understood that the full case file will be released soon after Sharif's lawyers and the NCA agree on the reforms.
Barrister Zia Naseem, ARU's lawyer and legal expert at the PM's Office of the Assets Recovery Unit in Islamabad, told the court in her application that ARU intends to file a complaint against this reporter with Ofcom "in light of the serious misreporting/transmission of important facts". Journalist".
The ARU application states: "However, in order to assess the merits of any such complaint, it is necessary to have access to the documents submitted to the court by the NCA, which the journalist has referred to during the broadcast and report."
The court informed the NCA, Shehbaz Sharif and Suleman's counsel as well as their friend Zulfiqar Ahmed about the ARU's application and asked them to make representations.
At least three hearings have been held so far in the district court, where Sharif's lawyer and Zulfiqar Ahmed objected to the release of the full report, arguing that the entire file contained several hundred pages and contained personal information of the defendants that did not pertain to . Investigation itself and ARU should not get personal information of Sharif family as they will be used for political harassment.
He alleged that the ARU needed access to a UK investigation in order to use this information for its own purposes. Zulfiqar Ahmed said that he was a non-political person and would not want his business and family details to be made public.
This correspondent personally represented himself and informed the District Judge that The News Report was based on only six pages of a bundle totaling hundreds of pages and it was incomprehensible why the ARU needed access to the entire file when He can file a case on that basis. Reported facts that were in the public domain. This correspondent argued that if the court decides to release the full file to ARU, it should get the same file to fight ARU's legal case in the UK.
The NCA said it would remain neutral in the matter and would abide by the court's decision. Barrister Zia Naseem argued that the complete file should be given to ARU as "it is an interested party" and "ARU's letter dated 11 December 2019 addressed to the NCA was produced in the court and referred to by the journalist and respondents during the press Conference" and Shahbaz Sharif read out the court document titled 'Suspicious grounds' at a press conference on September 29, 2021.
Barrister Zia Naseem also revealed that NCA was in touch with ARU regarding Shehbaz Sharif and Suleiman case on 7th December 2019 - David Scruton of NCA held a meeting with a senior NAB official in London and was formalized by NCA About two weeks before applying. Freeze accounts. They relied on the principles relating to the AFO set out in the recent decisions of the Divisional Court in Javadov v Westminster Magistrates' Court and R (Guardian News and Media Ltd.) v. City of Westminster Magistrates' Court where the court decided to release the files.
The judge also ordered that a copy of the revised final file should also be provided to this reporter and Evening Standard's editor of home affairs, Mr. Martin Bentham.