LAHORE: Lahore High Court chief justice Muhammad Yawar Ali on Monday constituted a new full bench to decide a petition challenging the National Accountability Ordinance of 1999 as well as the conviction of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz, and son-in-law Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar in the Avenfield properties case. The new bench headed by Justice Shahid Waheed, and including Justices Atir Mahmood and Shahid Jamil Khan will hold its first hearing on August 27. On August 8, a full bench hearing the petition was dissolved after its head, Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza, declined to hear the petition. A single bench comprising Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi had on July 19 referred the petition as well as an application moved by Advocate A K Dogar to the CJ for constitution of a larger bench. Justice Qureshi maintained that legal points raised in the petition were important in nature and required to be decided by a larger bench. Mr Dogar submitted in the application that Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar were convicted under a law, passed by a military dictator, that was dead now. Referring to the accountability court that sentenced Nawaz, Maryam and Safdar, he said a court established under a dead law could not claim jurisdiction to try and convict anyone. Therefore, he requested the court to suspend the accountability court’s judgement. On the main petition, an LHC single bench has already issued notices to the Attorney General of Pakistan and the federal law ministry. Mr Dogar had pleaded that the Ordinance was promulgated by then military dictator Pervez Musharraf, under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) No.1 and 9 of 1999. He submitted that the order No.9 was promulgated, under order No.1, just to remove the 120-day gap required under the Article 89 of the Constitution between two ordinances passed by the President. Published in Daily Times, August 14th 2018.