Al-Azizia, Flagship cases: Nawaz seeking exemption from appearance

As Islamabad High Court (IHC) is set to hear appeal against the Accountability Court judgment in Al-Azizia reference from tomorrow (November 25), former prime minister Nawaz Sharif Saturday filed an application to get exemption from personal appearance. A division bench of IHC comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani will hear ex-PM's appeal against Accountability Court verdict in Al-Azizia reference and National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) plea against his acquittal in the Flagship reference from Monday.

The application on behalf of Nawaz Sharif was filed under Section 561-A read with Section 540-A of Criminal Procedure Code, 1898.

Nawaz Sharif is on bail and the sentence in Al-Azizia Mills has been suspended for eight weeks. He went abroad for diagnosis and treatment of his multifarious ailments after getting permission from Lahore High Court.

In view of the circumstances, the former premier requested the bench to exempt him from personal appearance on Monday and to allow him to be represented on the said date by his pleader/authorized representative i.e. Ibrahim Haroon Advocate.

In December 2018, Judge Arshad Malik convicted Nawaz Sharif in Al-Azizia reference and acquitted him in the Flagship reference. The former premier was sentenced to seven-year rigorous imprisonment and was also disqualified from holding a public office for a period of 10 years.

The ex-PM in his appeal contended that he was convicted under section 10 of NAO, 1999 read with schedule thereto and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a term of seven years along with a fine of Rs 1.5 billion and US $25 million.

Sharif submitted that from a bare perusal of the said judgment, it is evident that the findings recorded therein and forming basis for the conviction of the petitioner under section 9(a)(v) of NAO, 1999 read with section 10 ibid, are based on no evidence.

He argued that he was convicted and sentenced on the basis of inadmissible evidence, unproven documents and statements of proxy witnesses, which is not permissible in the eye of law. The petitioner maintained that it is apparent on the face of the record that, prima facie, the conviction and sentence recorded against the petitioner is illegal and unwarranted by law and consequently his incarceration in jail pursuant to his impugned conviction is tantamount to his being held in custody without lawful authority.

While referring the legal lacunas in the judgment of the AC, Sharif requested the court in his appeal to acquit him of all the charges framed against him in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference No. 19 of 2017.

In his petition, Nawaz maintained that the decision was based on assumptions and false interpretation of law while the evidences were misperceived and the accountability court announced the verdict without hearing objections by the accused.

Therefore, he maintained that the said judgment, conviction and sentence are even otherwise illegal, without jurisdiction, unwarranted by law, based on inadmissible evidence and unproven documents and on misconception and misinterpretation of law and liable to be set aside as such.