Avenfield corruption reference: IHC directs Safdar to make AC a party in his appeal

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday directed Captain Muhammad Safdar (retd) to make the accountability court a party in his appeal against his conviction in Avenfield corruption reference.
A two-member bench of IHC comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, was hearing a plea filed by Captain Safdar (retd), the son-in-law of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, against his conviction in Avenfield corruption reference.
As the course of proceedings began, the petitioner's lawyer Amjad Pervez argued that a plea to suspend punishment can be accepted if the prison sentence is less than five years. Justice Farooq noted this was the reason that Safdar's petition had been separated from his wife Maryam and father-in-law Nawaz Sharif's pleas.
The counsel for Safdar contended that the court had ordered that sentences of all three convicted in the case will begin simultaneously, this was not the case for his client who had remained in the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) custody for a day.
He further said that the accountability court's ruling in the Avenfield case was based on a forged signature on a trust deed. "The expert witness had admitted that the Calibri font was available in 2005," he said.
To this, Justice Farooq remarked that it would be better if the merits of case are not discussed at this stage. The bench then ordered the petitioner to make the accountability court a party to the case as the plea was against the latter's ruling.
After NAB objected to Safdar's petition against conviction, the hearing was adjourned till Monday.
The Sharif family had petitioned against their convictions in the Avenfield reference. Nawaz had also filed a plea to transfer the Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment corruption references from the court of Judge Mohammad Bashir to another accountability court.
Later, the IHC had clubbed the two references. During Tuesday proceedings, the court had accepted Nawaz's plea. The hearing of Maryam and Nawaz's petitions against conviction in the Avenfield case was adjourned till August 13.
On July 6, after four extensions in the original six-month deadline to conclude all three cases, the court had announced its verdict in the Avenfield reference.
Nawaz was sentenced to a total of 11 years in prison and slapped a £8 million fine (Rs 1.3 billion) in the corruption reference, while his daughter Maryam was sentenced to eight years with a £2 million fine (Rs 335 million). Captain Safdar (retd) was also given a one-year sentence without any fine.
Nawaz and his sons, Hussain and Hassan, are accused in all three references whereas Maryam and Safdar were accused in the Avenfield reference only.
Hussain and Hassan have been absconding since the proceedings began last year and have already been declared proclaimed offenders by the court.