IHC to hear Nawaz’s plea against Al-Azizia conviction on January 21
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The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has fixed January 21 to hear ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s plea challenging his conviction in the Al-Azizia reference by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
A two-member bench comprising Judge Amer Farooq and Judge Mohsin Akhtar Kiani will hear Nawaz’s petition. A day ago on Wednesday, the high court had directed the IHC registrar to set up a date within 10 days to hear Nawaz’s petition.
Earlier, Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Haris had filed a supplementary appeal in the IHC. The plea stated that Nawaz’s basic human rights were being violated, therefore a hearing on the appeal should be fixed at the earliest date possible.
Nawaz has been convicted by an accountability court in the Al-Azizia reference. Judge Arshad Malik has sentenced Nawaz to seven years jail time. The court also slapped the ex-premier with a fine of Rs 1.5 billion and $25 million.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has also fixed a date to hear NAB’s appeal challenging IHC’s orders in suspending the punishment given to the Sharif family in the Avenfield case. Accountability court Judge Mohammad Bashir has awarded Nawaz 10 years, Maryam Nawaz seven and Captain (retd) Safdar one year of jail time. However, after serving their jail term for only a couple of months, the trio were released following IHC’s orders.
