The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday turned down a plea filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to annul the conviction of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and remand back the Al-Azizia case to the trial court, saying it will hear the case on merit.
IHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb resumed hearing after clubbing the petitions filed by the NAB and Nawaz Sharif.
Th bench rejected the anti-graft watchdog’s plea and opted to examine the case on its substantive grounds.
During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that he had two options in light of the Supreme Court’s verdict, saying either the IHC would hear the case on merit or remand it back to the accountability court.
At one point, the chief justice asked Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer Azam Nazir Tarar what he would prefer. In reply, Tarar requested the court to decide on the appeal of his client instead of sending back the case to trial court.
Justice Miangul Hassan remarked that the former premier will consider a criminal and not convict if the case is remanded back.
During the hearing, NAB prosecutor asked the bench to declared the NAB court’s ruling null and void in the Al-Azizia case, remanding it back to it.
Nawaz Sharif’s another lawyer Amjad Parvez pleaded the bench to issue directives for the trial court to wrap up the case as soon as possible if it is remanded back.
Later, the bench rejected the NAB plea and decided to hear the case on merit.
In December 2018, the former three-time premier was awarded seven year sentence in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference.
Later, the PML-N supreme leader had challenged the accountability court’s verdict in the high court, pleading it to nullify the decision of jail sentence and fine.
The anti-graft watchdog in its appeal has asked the high court to increase the jail sentence for the former premier in the case as the trial court awarded a lesser sentence.
On November 29, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday acquitted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Avenfield case.
In July 2018, an accountability court handed a 10-year sentence to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and imposed a fine of £8 million (Rs1.29 billion) in the reference pertaining to Sharif family’s Avenfield apartment in London, UK.
The high court had also disposed of the Flagship graft reference against the PML-leader after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) withdrew its petition against the acquittal in the case.