SC to hear NAB's appeal against suspension of Nawaz Sharif's sentence in Avenfield Reference
A five-member bench will hear the appeal on January 14.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Supreme Court on Wednesday fixed the date of hearing of an appeal filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against suspension of former premier Nawaz Sharif’s sentence in the Avenfield reference case.
Reportedly, a five-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar will hear the appeal on January 14.
Justice Asif Saeed, Justice Gulzan Ahmad, Justice Masheer Alam and Justice Mazhar Alam are included in the bench.
On the other hand, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued directives to hear an appeal filed by Sharif, seeking bail and suspension of his sentence in the Al-Azizia reference case, within 10 days.
Background of the cases
In 2016, Nawaz’s name was disclosed in Panama Papers, followed by formation of a joint investigation team (JIT) on the SC orders to probe into the accusations.
The JIT report revealed sufficient evidence against Nawaz, and subsequently he was disqualified from being a member of the parliament in July 2017.
Meanwhile, the top court had also directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to file references against the Sharif family and wrap up the case within six months.
In one of the three references, Avenfield, Nawaz, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Muhammad Safdar were convicted.
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, Maryam and Safdar were sentenced to 10, seven and one year of imprisonment, respectively, in absentia by Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir.
They, however, were released on bail by the Islamabad High Court after a few months.
Following the conviction, Nawaz, through his counsel filed a petition in the IHC that sought transfer of cases to another court, pleading “since the evidence and the arguments in all three references were similar, the outcome may be the same if the same judge heard the case”.
Subsequently, Judge Bashir recused and the cases were transferred to the court of AC Judge Muhammad Arshad. Unlike Avenfield reference, the court had also announced to give a joint verdict in remaining two corruption references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family.
