*ISLAMABAD – They should hang me or send me to jail, said former PM NawazSharif said on Tuesday.*

He said that the Supreme Court should get the corruption references againsthis family transferred to itself. “Then give whatever verdict they like,”he said.

The former PM appeared before the accountability court for the Avenfieldreference hearing against his family.

“Have you hired another lawyer?” asked Muhammad Bashir, the judge of theaccountability court. He told Mr Sharif to either convince Khawaja Haris toresume representing him as his counsel or get another lawyer.

“We are looking for another lawyer,” replied Mr Sharif. “It’s not an easytask. Khawaja sahib was fully prepared for the case. We have been coming tothe court for the past nine months. These days, we leave for the courtright after *sehri*.”

“We have not accepted Khawaja sahib’s plea,” said the judge. “The [SupremeCourt] order does not say that hearings are compulsory on Saturdays andSundays.”

“Judges remarked that I speak about my wife’s illness to get mediacoverage,” said the former PM. “It was painful to see this.”

On Sunday, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar ordered the NAB court to wind upthe hearings of all three corruption references against the Sharif familyin a month. The Supreme Court rejected the plea of Khawaja Haris, who askedfor six weeks to complete the trial. A day later, Haris withdrew fromrepresenting the former PM in the cases. He appeared before theaccountability court on Monday along with Mr Sharif.

On the other hand, Mr Sharif consulted with the lawyer of Maryam Nawaz,Amjad Pervez, at the accountability court. Maryam Nawaz and Capt (retd)Safdar also arrived at the court for the hearing.

Meanwhile, the hearing was adjourned till June 19. Both Nawaz and Maryamwere ordered to appear in the next hearing.