IHC rejects NAB's plea to send Al-Azizia reference back to trial court

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday rejected the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) plea to send the Al-Azizia reference back to the trial court, ARY News reported.

IHC division bench, consisting of Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb took up Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif’s appeal against his conviction in the Al-Azizia reference.

The same bench had acquitted the former premier in the Avenfield reference on November 29.

Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer Amjad Parvez in his arguments gave reference to the Panama case.

Parvez said NAB’s star witness Wajid Zia said they failed to collect a single evidence against Nawaz Sharif on the point of depence. He termed the conviction of Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia reference as against the ‘law’.

Nawaz Sharif was convicted by the accountability court in Avenfield and Al-Azizia references, however, earlier this week he was acquitted by the IHC in the Avenfield reference.

The accountability court had awarded a 10-year jail term with eight million Pounds fine to Nawaz Sharif in the Avenfield case and 7-year sentence in Al-Azizia reference. He was also fined Rs1.5 billion and US$25 million.

The court also disqualified Sharif for holding public office for 10 years.

However, in 2019, his sentence in Al-Azizia reference was suspended by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on medical grounds. He was then permitted to fly to London on medical grounds.

The IHC had declared him a proclaimed offender in both cases in December 2020.

After returning from the exlie in UK, the PML-N leader filed two separate applications seeking the restoration of his appeals against his conviction in both the references.