ISLAMABAD – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) plea on Wednesday to adjourn the hearing of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s petition against his conviction, for two days.
A two-member bench of the IHC, comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, resumed hearing Nawaz’s petition for the suspension of the accountability court’s verdict against him in the Avenfield properties reference.
During the hearing, Deputy Prosecutor General NAB, Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi sought time to provide paragraph-wise comments in line with the request of Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Harris.
Abbasi requested that he did not receive a copy of the court order on time and so he needed some time.
Upon this, Justice Minallah remarked that the bench could not adjourn the hearing on these grounds.
The NAB counsel contended that he was not in town, however, the bench rejected his plea and Nawaz’s counsel continued presenting his arguments before the court.
During the hearing, Justice Minallah observed that he was informed by the registrar’s office that factually incorrect statements attributed to judges were aired on mainstream media after the last hearing, on August 13.
He clarified that the august court had taken serious notice of this and the matter is being forwarded to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
“Which bench were the incorrect statements received from?” he asked and added that if judgments are passed on one’s wishes then there will be no justice.
“We value the media but those who are indulging in this are involved in contempt of court,” the judge remarked.
Justice Minallah continued that for a fair trial, it is essential to have trust in the legal system and if the procedure starts taking place outside court then that comes under contempt of court.
He blatantly clarified that the bench was not under pressure and it has to pass judgments based on law irrespective of the convict.
The Sharif family had petitioned against their convictions in the Avenfield reference. Nawaz had also filed a plea to transfer the Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment corruption references from the court of Judge Mohammad Bashir to another accountability court which was accepted..
Earlier in the day, Nawaz Sharif appeared before the judge Arshad Malik of the accountability court in the references relating to Flagship Investment, Al Azizia Steel Mills, and offshore firms.
