Avenfield reference: IHC adjourns hearing of Sharif family’s appeals till tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday adjourned hearing of appeals by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Captain (R) Muhammad Safdar against their conviction in Avenfield reference and for transfer of two pending references against them to another court tomorrow (Thursday).

Defence counsel Khawaja Haris argued that all references have common witnesses and the presiding judge of the accountability court Muhammad Bashir has already disclosed his opinion on crucial aspects of the case, therefore, the case should be transferred.

The two-member bench, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb, asked if there were case laws of previous judgments to support Khawaja Haris’ arguments. The lawyer said the case at hand is “unique” and “has no priors” and hence, it is difficult to find a similar case.

The defence counsel further informed the court that the matter was brought to the court’s notice both verbally and in writing, but the court decided to conclude a reference and not others.

The court scheduled the next hearing for tomorrow (Thursday) when Haris will continue presenting his arguments. The prosecutor from the country’s anti-graft body will present his arguments after the defence counsel. The writ petition of suspension of the July 6 judgment was also scheduled for hearing on Tuesday, but was fixed for tomorrow due to lack of time.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Justice Aurangzeb remarked that a story published in an English daily a day after the last hearing (July 17) had inappropriate comments from “followers of Haris’ clients”. Justice Aurangzeb, expressing displeasure, said, “It is not the Supreme Court or the accountability court, we will proceed against the person, no matter who it is.”

On these remarks, Haris questioned whether the legal team or their process was part of the story. Justice Aurangzeb replied, “The client’s followers should be careful. There will be no judicial restraint, as far as I know, everyone left the courtroom content. But there were inappropriate comments published the next day.”