Court adjourns hearing of references against Nawaz without proceeding

ISLAMABAD: Accountability Court adjourned the hearing of Al-Azizia and Flagship references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his two sons till August 9, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir adjourned hearing of two NAB references without further proceeding due to a plea under hearing in Islamabad High Court about the two references.

Convicted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has in a plea to the high court has requested for transfer of the Al-Azizia and Flagship references to another accountability court.

The court will resume hearing of the former prime minister’s plea today.

Deposed premier’s counsel had filed a petition requesting the court to transfer Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment references from Judge Muhammad Bashir’s Accountability Court-I to another accountability court.

Sharif family had also appealed against its conviction in Avenfield verdict.

In the hearing on Monday, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi submitted in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that former prime minister’s petition of trial transfer to another accountability court could not be entertained because if an accused has been indicted by a court then the trial cannot be transferred to another judge.

“The reference is in its last stages henceforth the high court will have to decide on this matter now,” the NAB counsel argued.

Earlier, Sharif’s counsel Khawaja Haris concluded his arguments in the petition to transfer the references against his client to another accountability court, submitting that there were similarities in the three references due to which the cases should be heard by another judge except Muhammad Bashir.

He pleaded that for an impartial and fair trial, a fresh judge needs to be assigned to hear the remaining corruption cases against his client.

On July 6, an accountability court had sentenced Nawaz to a total of 11 years in prison and imposed a £8 million fine in the corruption reference, while his daughter Maryam was sentenced to eight years with a £2 million fine. Nawaz’s son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar was also awarded one-year sentence without any fine.

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