Nawaz, Maryam to spend Eid in Adiala Jail as IHC defers judgment on appeals

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has deferred its judgement over the appeals to suspend the conviction of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and captain (retd) Safdar in Avenfield corruption reference case.

Earlier today, a two-member bench of the IHC, comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb had reserved the judgement .

The trio will now spend Eid-ul-Azha in Adiala Jail as the verdict will now be announced after Eid holidays.

Before reserving the verdict, judgement the judges consulted among them. Justice Athar said, “A reasonable judgement will be announced on appeals in Avenfield conviction.”

Last week, the court had rejected a request of the National Accountability Court (NAB) against appeals of the Sharif family members as former PM Mian Nawaz Sharif's counsel, Khawaja Harris, concluded his arguments on his petition for suspension of the Accountability Court’s verdict against him in the Avenfield properties reference.  

The Sharif family had petitioned against their convictions in the Avenfield reference. Nawaz had also filed a plea to transfer the Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment corruption references from the court of Judge Mohammad Bashir to another accountability court.

Nawaz was sentenced to a total of 11 years in prison and slapped a £8 million fine (Rs1.3 billion) in the corruption reference, while his daughter Maryam was sentenced to eight years with a £2 million fine (Rs335 million). Capt (retd) Safdar was also given a one-year sentence without any fine.

Nawaz and his sons, Hussain and Hassan, are accused in all the three references whereas Maryam and Safdar were accused in the Avenfield reference only. The two brothers, based abroad, have been absconding since the proceedings began last year and were declared proclaimed offenders by the court.