Nawaz petitions IHC to revive appeals against his conviction in Avenfield and Al-Azizia references

Deposed prime minister and proclaimed offender Nawaz Sharif on Monday filed petitions in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to revive appeals against his conviction in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references.

On October 19, the IHC had accepted the PML-N supremo’s pleas, granting him protective bail in both cases until October 24 (Tuesday).

Upon his return to the country over the weekend, he had landed in the capital city first to sign applications at the Islamabad Inter­national Airport for restoring pending appeals against his convictions in the Avenfield Apartments and Al-Azizia references.

In July 2018, ousted 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 National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which were to be served concurrently.

His daughter, PML-N Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz, had also been sentenced to seven years in jail in the case but was acquitted in September 2022 along with her husband retired Captain Safdar.

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. He was also fined Rs1.5 billion and US$25 million in the case.

Nawaz was released from jail in March 2019, following which he left for London in November 2019 after the LHC allowed him to do so. The IHC declared him a proclaimed offender in both cases in December 2020.

The pleas were filed by former law minister Azam Tarar and advocate Amjad Parvez today.

The petitions, copies of which are available with Dawn.com requested that the appeals against Nawaz’s sentence be reinstated with the previous court proceedings and should be decided on merit according to law.

The plea stated that the IHC dismissed the PML-N supremo’s appeals for non-compliance in June 2021 due to his prolonged stay in London.

It argued that Nawaz never took advantage of the bail granted to him in all the cases. The plea also cited that the ousted premier went abroad with the permission of the concerned court.

The plea further stated Nawaz’s absence from the court was not deliberate or due to malice, highlighting that the former PM did not appear in court on medical grounds as his treatment was delayed due to the coronavirus epidemic.

It claimed that Nawaz had not fully recovered from the illness but decided to return after witnessing the deteriorating economic conditions of the country and the challenges faced on various fronts.

The petition also said the presumption of deliberate non-appearance was not consistent with the previous track record of Nawaz which was “exemplary” in relation to court appearances.

It was said in the petition that Nawaz had been appearing before the joint investigation team despite being the prime minister and he returned to face the trial.

The pleas are likely to be heard tomorrow by an IHC division bench.