ISLAMABAD: (DNA) – The accountability court resumed hearing Al Azizia Steel Mills graft reference against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his sons on Thursday.

Judge Mohammad Bashir is conducting trial proceedings.

As the proceedings went underway, Sharif’s lawyer Ayesha Hamid objected to inclusion of Noreen Shahzad in the witness record, contending that Shahzad has been failed to produce an authority letter from her employer to become a witness in the case.

The defence minister asserted that the documents submitted by Shahzad could not be made part of the case.

She said Shahzad’s name was nowhere in the witnesses list of National Accountability Bureau (NAB), besides the prosecution did not notify the defence lawyer about inclusion of Noreen Shahzad as a witness.

On the occasion, the defence lawyer also submitted a plea challenging the inclusion of Shahzad in the witness list.

The NAB prosecutor opposed the plea, stating that Shahzad did not appear as a witness but only provided details of Sharif family back accounts’ transactions.

The court dismissed the defence lawyer’s plea after announcing its reserved verdict.

Earlier on Wednesday, the court accepted a plea filed by NAB seeking inclusion of documents provided by Noreen Shahzad, who replaced Malik Tayyab Ahmed as branch manager of a private bank, in the witness record.