ISLAMABAD – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has taken up the pleas filed by members of the Sharif family against their convictions in the Avenfield reference as well as a petition to transfer the Al-Azizia and Flagship references to another court.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb is hearing hear the appeals today while Nawaz’s counsel, Khawaja Haris, is presenting the arguments.
During the last hearing, Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Haris had pleaded to shift the trial of the remaining corruption references to a court other than that of Muhammad Bashir.
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Haris had argued that Accountability Court-I Judge Muhammad Bashir had already disclosed his intentions by sentencing his client in the Avenfield reference.
On the court’s query, Nawaz’s counsel had also stated that the investigation officers in all three references were different whereas the witnesses and their defence was common.
After hearing Nawaz’s petition to transfer the two remaining references to another court, the two-member bench will take up the Sharif family’s pleas against their convictions in the Avenfield reference in which the former premier was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The Sharifs had challenged their convictions in the IHC, highlighting the legal flaws in the Avenfield judgment, asking for the accountability court’s verdict to be declared null and void and the three convicts to be released on bail.
Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Captain (r) Sadar are currently imprisoned in the Adiala jail.
