Al-Azizia sentence: IHC to hear Nawaz’s appeal on 21st

ISLAMABAD: The Division Bench of Islamabad High Court (IHC) will hear former PM Nawaz Sharif’s plea for the suspension of his sentence in Al-Azizia reference on January 21.

The two-member IHC bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani will hear the petition. Earlier, the IHC division bench had ordered the Registrar’s Office on Wednesday to fix the earliest date possible for hearing Nawaz’s petition.

The Accountability Court Judge Arshad Malik had sentenced Nawaz to seven years imprisonment along with an imposition of a fine of $25 million in the Al-Azizia reference on Dec 24, 2018. However, he acquitted him in the Flagship Investment reference.

Nawaz Sharif has challenged the Accountability Court-II decision in the IHC. In his appeal, Nawaz requested the court to declare his sentence null and void and release him on bail. Nawaz's counsel Khawaja Haris had argued that the Accountability Court’s verdict was based on an incorrect interpretation of the law.

The appeal further claimed that the judge “betrayed his predisposition and exceeded his position as a trial judge” during the hearing. Nawaz’s defence counsel has also filed a separate petition seeking suspension of Nawaz’s sentence in the reference.