ISLAMABAD – Islamabad High Court (IHC) Friday admitted the appeal ofNational Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the verdicts of accountabilitycourt in Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Flagship Investment references againstformer prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.The NAB filed the appeal second time as it were earlier returned by the IHCregistrar office after raising objections.The accountability court, on December 24, had sentenced Nawaz Sharif toseven years rigorous imprisonment along with fine of Rs1.5 billion and US$25 million in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference, and acquittedhim in the Flagship Investment reference.NAB, in its appeal, pleaded that concrete evidences were provided in theFlagship Investment reference and requested the IHC to set aside thedecision of the accountability court, which had acquitted the accused bygiving him the benefit of doubt.
It also pleaded the court to give sentence to the accused on the basis ofevidences.NAB, in its second appeal, said the seven-year jail term given to NawazSharif in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference was not enough andshould be increased as per Section 9 (a)(v) of the NAB Ordinance, accordingto which the punishment for such offense was 14 years imprisonment.
