ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will resume today the hearing of plea of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to transfer his remaining corruption references against him to another court.
Nawaz’s legal counsel had filed an appeal requesting the court to transfer the Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment references from the Accountability Court of Judge Mohammad Bashir to another accountability court.
The Sharif family also submitted a petition against their convictions in the Avenfield reference.
IHC had grouped the two references, which will be heard by a two-member bench comprising of Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Aamer Farooq.
On Monday, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi argued that transferring the case was not possible after indictment. Judge Bashir had been hearing the defense’s arguments in Al-Azizia and Flagship references for 10 months.
Justice Aurangzeb noted that the evidence presented was interlinked in all three corruption references. “How can these interrelated facts be separated? This case is not ordinary in nature. It cannot be compared to the cases we hear on a daily basis,” he argued.
The NAB prosecutor also cast light on the fact that the defense had not submitted a petition in the Supreme Court against the rejection of the plea to club all three references. He went on to state that once the accused has been indicted, no reference can be transferred.
On July 6 of this year, an accountability court sentenced Nawaz to 11 years in prison while imposing a £8 million fine. His daughter, Maryam Nawaz was given an eight-year sentence with a £2 million fine. Capt (retd) Safdar, who is Nawaz’s son-in-law, was given a 1-year sentence.
The Sharifs challenged their convictions in the IHC, pointing out the flaws in the legal framework in the Avenfield judgment and demanded that the accountability court’s verdict be declared null and void.
The trial against the Sharif family began on September 14, 2017.
On July 6, after four extensions in what was originally a six-month deadline to conclude all three cases, the court announced its verdict in the Avenfield reference.
Nawaz and his sons, Hussain and Hasan, are accused in all three references whereas Maryam and Safdar were accused in just the Avenfield reference.
The two brothers, based abroad, have been absconding since the proceedings began and were declared proclaimed offenders by the court.
On July 10, the Supreme Court granted a six-week extension to Accountability Court-I Judge Mohammad Bashir to bring the remaining corruption references against Nawaz and former finance minister Ishaq Dar to a conclusion.
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