Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday restored PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s appeals against his conviction in the Avenfield Apartments and Al-Azizia cases.
The verdict, which was reserved earlier today, was announced by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.
During today’s proceedings, Nawaz appeared before the court.
NAB Prosecutor General Ehtesham Qadir Shah maintained that the court had directed the watchdog’s chairman to provide an opinion on the bail pleas, adding that the anti-graft watchdog could only withdraw the reference against Nawaz if “the decision was not announced”.
In July 2018, Nawaz was handed 10 years in jail in the Avenfield properties corruption reference for owning assets beyond known income and one year for not cooperating with the NAB, which was to be served concurrently.
The Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference pertains to the case in which he was sentenced to seven years in jail on Dec 24, 2018 and then taken to Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, from where he was shifted to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail next day. He was also fined Rs1.5 billion and $25 million in the case.
In March 2019, Nawaz was released from jail following which he left for London in November same year after the LHC allowed him to do so on medical grounds.
The IHC had declared him a proclaimed offender in both cases in December 2020.
Last week, the IHC granted protective bail to PML-N supremo in both the graft cases, paving the way for Nawaz Sharif’s smooth return to the country — after ending his 4 years self-imposed exile.
