Pakistan court to hear appeals of Nawaz Sharif against his conviction in Al-Azizia, Avenfield corruption cases

Islamabad [Pakistan], November 27 : The Islamabad High Court is scheduled to hear appeals of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif against his conviction in the Al-Azizia and Avenfield corruption cases on Monday, Pakistan-based The Express Tribune reported. A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) led by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb will hear the appeals of Nawaz Sharif.

On July 28, 2017, the Supreme Court disqualified Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif as a lawmaker for hiding the salary that he was entitled to as a director at one of the companies owned by his sons in his nomination papers submitted before the 2018 elections, according to The Express Tribune report.

Nawaz Sharif was later convicted in the Avenfield reference and the Al-Azizia reference respectively in July 2018 and Dec 2018. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed these references on the order given by the Supreme Court. Nawaz Sharif filed appeals against his conviction in the IHC.

In October 2019, Nawaz Sharif, who was serving jail term in Lahore, was allowed to get medical treatment abroad. Later, the Islamabad High Court dismissed Nawaz Sharif's appeals after he did not appear in the court proceedings. However, these appeals were resurrected on the request of Nawaz Sharif after he returned to Pakistan in October, ending his four-year-long self-imposed exile.

During the last hearing of the case, one of Nawaz Sharif's lawyers, Azam Nazeer Tarar, had told the court that Pakistan's former PM's legal team would present arguments in a sequence, starting with the Avenfield case, according to The Express Tribune report.

Nawaz Sharif's another counsel told the court that Islamabad High Court had already acquitted Nawaz Sharif's co-accused in the Avenfield case on merit. Chief Justice Farooq had said that he had heard the appeal of Maryam Nawaz, one of the co-accused in the Avenfield case, The Express Tribune reported.

On September 29, 2022, a division bench led by Justice Farooq and comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani set aside the conviction of Maryam and her spouse Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar in the case.

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