The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has constituted a two-judge bench to take up appeals filed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (r) Muhammad Safdar against their conviction in the Avenfield reference. The division bench comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Gul Hassan Aurangzeb will hear the appeals tomorrow (Tuesday). The court has sent notices to their lawyers for tomorrow. Earlier on July 17, a bench had issued a notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on the appeals seeking to set aside the accountability courts judgment that awarded 10 years imprisonment to former PM Nawaz Sharif, seven years to Maryam Nawaz and one year to Captain Muhammad Safdar. It rejected their request to grant bail at that time and issued notices to NAB to submit its reply to the application seeking to suspend their conviction. The bench also directed the authorities concerned to present the complete record of the Avenfield case on next hearing. The judges also turned down a request by the appellants lawyer Khawaja Haris to grant a stay order, restraining Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir from proceeding with the two pending cases against his clients until NAB submits its response. Published in Daily Times, July 30th 2018.