ISLAMABAD (APP) – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday sought arguments from respondents on Nov 27 in appeals of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif against his convictions in Avenfield Property and Al-Azizia Steel Mills references filed by NAB.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the appeals. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif appeared before the court along with his legal team.
At the outset of hearing, the chief justice inquired from the defence lawyers that how much time they required for arguments. Amjad Pervaiz Advocate said that IHC had already decided appeals of Maryam Nawaz and her husband in the Avenfield property case.
Nawaz Sharif’s counsel Azam Nazir Tarar said that the high court’s verdict in the instant appeals had become final as the same were not challenged at the apex court. He said that firstly the lawyers would give arguments in the Avenfield reference and then the Al-Azizia case.
Amjad Pervaiz Advocate said that he required maximum six hours to complete arguments in the Avenfield case. The chief justice noted that the sentence in Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference was suspended but hearing on the appeal’s merits had not been done so far.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor said that they would conclude their arguments only in 30 minutes as they would only present the legal points. The court said that it was fixing the appeals for next Monday for further hearing, observing that the bench could hear the case on daily basis if it considered necessary. The case was then adjourned.