Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has agreed to club pleas filed by members of the Sharif family against their convictions in the Avenfield reference with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s petition to transfer the Al-Azizia and Flagship references from the court of Accountability Court-I judge Muhammad Bashir.

The decision was taken as a two-member bench including Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb began hearing the appeals on Tuesday.

During the proceedings, Nawaz Sharif’s counsel Khawaja Haris presented his arguments on the plea to shift the trial of remaining corruption references to a different court, pleading that Judge Bashir had already disclosed his mind about the cases by punishing his client in the Avenfield reference.

Justice Farooq inquired if the remaining two cases would resume from the point where they stood at the moment. Haris responded in the affirmative. Responding to Justice Aurangzeb’s question about the submission of similar pleas in the Supreme Court, Haris said the top court had refused to entertain the petition. He continued that the investigation officers in all three references were different, while the witnesses and their defence was common.

To a question about the current status of the two remaining references, Haris said the cross examination of Wajid Zia, head of the Panamagate Joint Investigation Team, was underway in the Al-Azizia case. His statement was yet to be recorded in the Flagship reference, he added.

The hearing was subsequently adjourned for a day, and will now continue on Wednesday (today).

Announcing its decision in the Avenfield reference on July 6, the accountability court had sentenced Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar for 11, eight, and one year imprisonment, besides imposing fines on them.

The Sharifs challenged the convictions in the IHC, highlighting flaws in the Avenfield judgement. They requested the court to declare the accountability court’s verdict null and void, and release the three convicts on bail.

Their appeals stated that the JIT head and prosecution’s star witness Wajid Zia had accepted that a response to the mutual legal assistance (MLA) request was not received. It added that levelling allegations without receiving a response to the MLA showed mala fide intentions.

The counsel of the convicts contended that prosecution witness Robert Radley had not only stated that Calibri font was available in beta format prior to its commercial availability but also admitted to having downloaded and used the font as early as the year 2005.

In an additional appeal, the Sharif requested the court to transfer the Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment references from the court of Judge Mohammad Bashir.

Published in Daily Times, August 1^st 2018.