Nawaz Sharif’s appeals in Avenfield and Al-Azizia cases postponed till Wednesday

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday adjourned former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif’s appeals against his convictions in the Avenfield Apartments and Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption cases till Wednesday.

A two-member division bench headed by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard his appeals.

At outset of the hearing, the court inquired Nawaz’s lawyer, Amjad Pervaiz, if the “facts” presented by him were from before the reference was filed. The counsel answered that “three facts” were from before while the rest of them were from afterward.

Drawing upon the Supreme Court’s (SC) ruling in the Panama Papers case, which led to Nawaz’s disqualification, Pervaiz reminded the court of the establishment of a joint investigation team (JIT) in response to the verdict.

Justice Aurangzeb questioned the relevance of Pervaiz’s arguments. In response, the counsel provided the court with details about the JIT’s formation and members.

He informed the IHC that the JIT submitted a comprehensive 12-volume report to the apex court in July 2017.

Following the presentations of the involved parties, the court issued its final verdict on July 28, 2017, disqualifying Nawaz.

Justice Aurangzeb sought clarity from Pervaiz regarding the specific orders issued by the SC. He inquired whether the SC had provided directives to the NAB chairman.

Pervaiz affirmed that the apex court had issued explicit instructions to NAB to file references against Nawaz Sharif.

He specified that the SC had ordered references against Nawaz, his daughter Maryam, sons Husain and Hasan, and Captain (rtd) Safdar in the Avenfield case, while the Al-Azizia and Flagship references were to be filed against Nawaz and his two sons.

The lawyer emphasized that according to the apex court’s orders, NAB was authorized to file supplementary references based on newly discovered evidence.

Justice Aurangzeb delved into the events between the SC’s order and NAB’s filing of the references. He inquired whether all three references were filed on the same day, to which Pervaiz confirmed, adding that the filing occurred in September 2017.

The IHC judge further questioned whether the former prime minister was present in the country when the references were filed. Pervaiz clarified that his client was in the United Kingdom along with his daughter.

Justice Farooq sought clarification regarding the indictment of the suspects. He asked whether the indictment was limited to the Avenfield reference or extended to all three cases. Pervaiz explained that the indictment occurred in all three cases on the same day, but the proceedings were handled separately at a later stage.

Pervaiz informed the IHC that the prosecution had withheld a copy of volume 10 of the JIT report. The chief justice expressed his surprise, stating that at least some details from volume 10 should have been presented during the trial.

However, the counsel maintained that no document from volume 10 had been brought on the record, acknowledging that a few questions were answered during the interrogation.

He said the statements of six out of the 18 witnesses were recorded in the Avenfield reference when NAB filed a supplementary reference.

“Did any witness give a statement after which NAB decided to file supplementary reference?” asked Justice Aurangzeb. To this, Pervaiz said that the first witness produced records from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).

“I will say that our case was opened and while the witnesses were being cross-examined, NAB decided to bring a supplementary reference,” he contended. However, the court directed the lawyer to take some time and submit a response to the court.

The lawyer further said that the trial court announced its verdict in the Avenfield reference in the absence of Nawaz and Maryam. “Mian Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz were in London to visit Kulsoom Nawaz,” he said.

He said that Kulsoom was suffering from late-stage cancer at the time. He said that the PML-N had asked the trial court to change the date of the hearing but the application was rejected the same day.

At one point, PML-N’s Tarar asked the court to exempt Nawaz from appearing before the court. “There are security issues at every hearing,” he contended.

“You file an application for exemption then we will see,” Justice Farooq responded. The hearing was then adjourned till Wednesday. ents from Nawaz’s counsels to present their arguments on November 27 (today) on his appeal in the Avenfield reference.

During the previous hearing, Nawaz’s counsel had said that NAB had failed to provide any evidence and requested the court to hear the appeal on a daily basis.

Background

In 2018, Nawaz was sentenced to 10 and seven years in prison in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references, respectively.

The three-time former prime minister was declared a proclaimed offender by the IHC over non-compliance after he went to London for medical treatment with the court’s permission in November 2019.

On October 23, the former prime minister upon his arrival to Pakistan after four years, had moved the IHC to revive appeals against his convictions.

The pleas said that IHC dismissed Nawaz’s appeals for non-compliance in June 2021 due to his prolonged stay in London, arguing that the PML-N supremo never took advantage of the bail granted to him in all the cases.