ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday will resume hearing former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s pleas to transfer remaining corruption cases-Al Azizia and Flagship references-to another accountability court and Sharif family’s petition against conviction in Avenfield case.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Aamer Farooq will hear the petitions.
During last hearing on July 31, the court failed to take up the bail applications filed by Maryam Nawaz and Capt Muhammad Safdar due to the longevity of arguments presented by Haris.
Haris said that the defence in all three cases is quite similar and the legal arguments are also the same. “Judge Muhammad Bashir has already disclosed his mind by punishing my client in the Avenfield verdict,” he argued as he requested the court to transfer the remaining two references to another court.
When the court asked about the current status of the cases, Nawaz’s counsel told the court that Panama JIT head Wajid Zia’s cross-examination is underway in Al-Azizia reference while his cross-examination is pending.
Upon this, Justice Farooq asked whether the cases will resume from the same point at which the currently stand, to which Haris responded affirmatively.
On this, Justice Hassan asked whether there was any precedent about transferring of cases under similar circumstances. The counsel replied saying there wasn’t any such precedent and this was a unique case, however, a few somewhat similar cases do exist.
When the court questioned whether the defence has filed similar petitions in the Supreme Court, Nawaz’s lawyer replied that the apex court did not entertain their petition.
On July 6, an anti-graft court in Islamabad sentenced Nawaz to a total of 11 years in prison and slapped a £8 million fine (Rs1.3 billion) in the Avenfield case, whereas Maryam received an eight-year sentence with a £2 million fine (Rs335 million).
from Pakistan Today
No comments: