Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday filed a petition through his counsel at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking early hearing of his appeal in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case. Khawaja Haris, counsel for the former PM, filed an appeal with the IHC. According to the appeal, “The writ petition No 32/2019 pertains to the suspension of sentence of the appellant and his release on bail pending final decision of the titled Appeal. It is requested that the writ petition be fixed at an early date.” He further said that transparent trial was the right of every Pakistani. IHC orders that bail petition filed by Nawaz in Al-Azizia case will be heard along with his first appeal challenging the court verdict The registrar office of the IHC has accepted the petition field by Sharif’s lawyer. The former PM was imprisoned for seven years in the Al-Azizia case, however he was acquitted of all charges in the Flagship Investment Reference. Earlier in the day, the Islamabad High Court released an order on former PM’s plea stating that the writ petition filed by Nawaz Sharif requesting bail in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case, will be heard along with his first appeal challenging the court verdict in the case. According to the order that was reserved by the IHC on Monday, the petition of Mr. Sharif will be taken up along with his appeal seeking review of court decision that sent him behind the bars. Sharif had first filed an appeal with the IHC challenging his conviction in the case. Later he submitted a petition in the court seeking bail as an interim relief. The former PM’s lawyer sought bail of his client with a request to the court to separately hear the bail plea. However, the court in its fresh order ruled that the petition will be heard along with the first appeal Mr. Sharif had filed. The accountability court judge Muhammad Arshad Malik on Dec 24 sentenced Sharif to seven years in prison in the Al-Azizia reference case. Published in Daily Times, January 9th 2019.