Islamabad High Court asks Nawaz Sharif’s lawyers to present arguments on Avenfield reference appeal on 27th November

ISLAMABAD, Nov 21 (SABAH): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday ordered Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and former prime minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s lawyers to present their arguments on November 27 on the Avenfield reference.

The court’s orders came during the hearing of appeals filed by the PML-N supremo against his conviction in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption references on Tuesday.

A two-member division bench headed by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, heard the appeals. Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister and PML-N President Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, PML-N Chairman Raja Zafaul Haq, former finance minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, former governor Punjab Malik Muhammad Rafique Rajwana, PML-N spokesperson and former information and broadcasting minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Muhammad Hanif Abbasi, Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and other PML-N leaders were also present during the hearing of the case.

At the outset of the hearing former law minister Senator Chaudhry Azam Naseer Tarar Advocate, who is one of the lawyers of Nawaz Sharif, informed the court that they had developed a sequence for the hearing. He added that they plan to give arguments for the appeal filed against the Avenfield reference.

On this IHC CJ Farooq asked the counsel how much time they would require and the hours he would take to give his arguments.

On this point, Muhammad Amjad Pervez, who is also part of Nawaz’s legal team, told the court that a decision on the Avenfield reference has been made on merit.

While Tarar added that the decision pertaining to the acquittal of the co-accused is final, as it was not challenged in the Supreme Court.

The IHC CJ remarked that all that happened in the Al-Azizia appeal was the suspension of the sentence. He added arguments on merit were never heard in the case.

Further, the judge asked Pervez about how many hours, and not days, would be required for arguments. The lawyer responded saying he needed four to six hours.

“In the Al-Azizia reference, the appeal was not heard by both the members of the bench,” Justice Farooq said. He told the lawyer to forget about Al-Azizia case for now and only present arguments on Avenfield case.

The judge remarked that the court had questioned NAB during several hearings.

The PML-N lawyer said NAB failed to provide any evidence. “At that time, NAB had also changed lawyers.”

He remarked that the appeal, if necessary, will be conducted on a daily basis. Justice Farooq asked how much time will NAB need to present its arguments.

“We only need half an hour, just to put forward the legal points,” NAB prosecutor said.

The IHC chief justice said it will give one or two hours’ time to the anti-graft body for presenting arguments.

The judge then adjourned the hearing till next Monday — November 27, 2023 and asked Nawaz’s lawyers to give their arguments when the court meets again.

Meanwhile, the court’s registrar’s office had issued a circular pertaining to the security situation ahead of the hearing, directing the Inspector General of Police Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Dr. Akbar Nasir Khan as well as the federal capital’s administration to ensure security arrangements.

“In order to ensure that regular cases are not affected and the litigants/leaned counsels appearing in the Islamabad High Court are not disturbed, the ICT Administration/DC/DM and IGP Islamabad shall ensure that proper administrative and security arrangements are made so as to maintain decorum of the Court,” the circular read.

Earlier, the PML-N supremo’s appeals were dismissed by the same court after he traveled abroad on account of seeking medical treatment. Nawaz Sharif returned to the country recently after obtaining protective bail in the cases.

Subsequently, he surrendered before the court, after which his appeals were restored. The National Accountability Bureau also raised no objection to granting bail to the PML-N leader and reinstation of his appeals.

Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to seven and 10 years in prison by an Islamabad accountability court in the Al-Azizia and Avenfield references, respectively, in 2018. In his appeals, he requested the IHC to set aside the trial court’s decisions. His daughter Maryam Nawaz and her husband Captain (retd) Safdar, who were convicted as co-accused, already have been acquitted by the appellate court.