LAHORE, Aug 6: A tehsildar who appeared as a prosecution witness in the reference against ARD president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi has said that he does not remember if he had also presented evidence against his brother Nasir Husain Hashmi.

He deposed before a local accountability court that he also did not remember that he had named Nasir as a co-accused who was the fourth shareholder in an agricultural land which Javed Hashmi purchased 75 acres in his name and in the name of brothers Nasir and Mukhtar and son-in-law Zahid Ahmad Shah, the husband of MNA Maimoona Hashmi.

The revenue official from the defunct deputy commissioner’s office, Multan, made his submissions during the cross examination by Nasir’s counsel Manzoor Ahmad Malik who stated that Nasir was not named as a co-accused when that revenue official presented the evidence against MNA Javed Hashmi. The counsel submitted that the addition to the charge sheet was without a substantial evidence about Nasir’s involvement in the case in any manner. He stated that Nasir’s share in the land, allegedly purchased by Javed Hashmi through ill-gotten money, was only 25 per cent and its total cost was about Rs100,000 against a total price of Rs400,000.

The court, headed by judge Shafqaat Ahmad Sajid, was informed by the prosecution that one of the three witnesses, whom the counsel wanted to recall, had already died and the third would appear on the next date of hearing. The court adjourned till Sept 6 the hearing of the reference against the PML-N acting-president.

AKHTAR VARIO: The same court adjourned till Sept 6 the hearing of a reference against former minister Chaudhry Akhtar Ali Vario from Sialkot. The references charge Vario that his assets, whose value is about Rs50 million, are disproportionate to his known sources of income. He is allegedly to have purchased urban and agricultural property and maintained a foreign currency account with the ill-gotten money.

References against Rana Nazir Ahmad, Seth Nisar Ahmad, honorary consul-general of Kazakstan and former mayor of Sargodha Chaudhry Abdul Hameed were also adjourned till the first week of the next month.