LAHORE: Judge Shams Mehmood Mirza of Lahore High Court (LHC) has recused himself from hearing a petition against the Sharif family’s conviction in the Avenfield Reference. Judge Mirza cited personal reasons as he recused himself from the three-member bench he was heading. The bench was constituted on August 4 to hear lawyer A.K. Dogar’s plea for annulment of punishment given to the Sharifs. After recusing himself, he referred the breakup of the bench to the LHC chief justice. The bench also comprised of Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi and Justice Mujahid Mustaqeem. The petition challenged the conviction, claiming that the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 was no longer valid after the 18th amendment was implemented. Dogar argues that the conviction was made on the basis of a ‘dead law’ and should be therefore, annuled. Nawaz Sharif currently faces 11 years of imprisonment with a £8 fine, Maryam Nawaz faces 8 years with a £2 fine, and Capt. (retd) Safdar faces a year in jail with no fine. They were convicted on July 6 of this year.