Avenfield Reference: IHC gives Maryam time to hire new lawyer till 23rd

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Wednesday gave Maryam Nawaz an extension to hire a new lawyer before September 23 for her plea challenging the sentence awarded to her in the Avenfield Reference, Geo News reported. A two-member bench, comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhter Kiyani, was hearing the pleas filed by Maryam and her husband Captain Safdar. During the hearing, Maryam maintained that her lawyer, Advocate Amjad Pervez, has excused himself from further representing her case due to an illness. She moved the court to grant her an extension to hire a new lawyer. “I want to bring some facts to the fore by filing another plea,” said Maryam. "I don’t want to give an impression that the case is being delayed."

At this, Justice Farooq remarked that Maryam has the right to hire a lawyer according to her will and file a petition, therefore, the court would not object to this. However, at Maryam’s request for a month-long extension, the court remarked that the arguments on the case are going on, so a long extension cannot be granted.

The court adjourned the hearing till September 23 while directing Maryam to hire a new lawyer within this period.

Speaking to the media after the hearing, she also hinted at filing a new petition in a court, which, she said, will expose "actual grounds" of the case. Refusing to divulge details of the prospective petition, Maryam said her lawyers were preparing the plea which would be substantial in proceeding with the case.

"If the issues highlighted in the plea I am going to file are not taken into consideration, then I will feel the justice is not served."

Maryam said that her new petition will expose "all the facts and reveal that why the case was built against them and who was behind it."

Furthermore, she said that the "PTI has failed not only in Punjab but in the entire country."

PML-N Vice President that Pakistan must accept the will of the Afghan people and refrain from imposing its decision on Afghanistan.

She made this statement in response to a query from a journalist asking whether Pakistan should recognise the new Taliban government in Afghanistan.

Maryam suggested that Pakistan collaborate with the international community for rehabilitating people and rebuilding infrastructure in the war-torn country.

The PMLN leader said Afghanistan was a sovereign country and insisted that Pakistan must not interfere in the internal matters of the neighbouring country.