Islamabad (July 17, 2018): Judge of NAB Court-I on Tuesday decided to postpone the Al-Azizia corruption reference against Nawaz Sharif till the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) ruling on an appeal filed by the Sharif family.
The lawyer of Nawaz Sharif, Khawaja Haris was due to cross-question prosecution witness Wajid Zia, however, the defence counsel failed to appear in court in today’s hearing.
Click Play Button To Watch This Video
Prosecutor of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Afzal Qureshi apprised the court that the Sharif family’s appeal has been fixed for hearing in the high court later today.
Later, Judge Bashir decided to postpone the hearing till the IHC’s ruling on the appeal.
On the other hand, a two-judge bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) will hear appeals of former premier Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar against their conviction in the Avenfield properties reference today.
The bench comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Mian Gul Hassan will take up the appeals.
The former premier, his daughter and son-in-law filed the appeals through their legal team pleading with the high court to set aside the accountability court’s verdict against them.
They requested the court to suspend their sentences and order their release from prison on bail until their appeals are decided. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the accountability judge have been named as respondents in the appeals.
Click Play Button To Watch This Video
The appellants contended that the prosecution failed to prove allegations levelled against them in the reference. Besides, the trial court announced the verdict in their absence while dismissing their plea to defer it for a week, they argued.
On July 6, the three-time prime minister was sentenced to 10 years in prison by an accountability court in the Avenfield case while his daughter and son-in-law to seven years and one year’s jail term, respectively.
Safdar was arrested on July 8 while the former premier and his daughter were arrested on the night of July 13 exactly a week after their conviction in the NAB case.
Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir ordered forfeiture of their properties in the Avenfield Apartments and Park Lane of London. He imposed a fine of £8 million (approximately Rs1,292m) on the former premier and £2 million (approximately Rs323m) on his daughter.
Click Play Button To Watch This Video
Earlier on, the Accountability Court Judge Justice Mohammad Bashir, who sentenced Nawaz Sharif and others in the Avenfield properties reference, recused himself from hearing the other two corruption references-Flagship and Al-Azizia- against the former premier and his family.
Sources informed that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had received a letter from the judge recusing himself from hearing Al-Azizia and Flagship references against Nawaz Sharif and his family.
Click Play Button To Watch This Video
They said that Justice Bashir, in his letter, requested for transfer of cases to another court.
According to sources, he stated that he had announced the verdict of Avenfield properties case and could not hear Al-Azizia and Flagship references. Justice Bashir further stated that if required, then he could also be transferred.
The accountability court judge noted that Nawaz’s counsel had also objected to him hearing the other two cases.
The sources further said the letter was written to the Chief Justice IHC Anwar Kasi two days ago, who is on a leave.
Related News:
Judge M. Bashir Recuses Himself From Al-Azizia, Flagship Cases
