COVID positive Maryam, Capt Safdar request absence from hearing in Avenfield case

ISLAMABAD: PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and husband Captain Safdar on Wednesday submitted an application at the Islamabad High Court to request exemption from appearing for a hearing on pleas filed against their sentences in the Avenfield property reference. The couple has submitted the request following Maryam's COVID-19 diagnosis.

A two-judge bench of the IHC comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhter Kayani will hear the case. Earlier, the hearing was to be taken up by Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb to seek final arguments from the respondents.

“I am suffering from coronavirus and cannot appear in court,” Maryam stated in the application, adding that she apologises for her absence.

The IHC had fixed Maryam’s appeal for hearing in the Avenfield Reference for today, after Eid holidays.

In the last hearing, Maryam Nawaz’s lawyer Amjad Pervaiz continued his arguments in the case. The petitioners had challenged their conviction by the accountability court and raised objections over the merit of the case.

Maryam and Safdar were convicted by an accountability court in the Avenfied corruption reference in July 2018. Maryam was penalised with an eight-year imprisonment and a £2 million fine, while Safdar was sentenced to a two-year imprisonment.