The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday disposed of petitions filed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif against conviction by accountability courts in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) references related to Avenfield Apartment and Al Azizia Steel Mills.
A divisional bench of the IHC comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani issued the verdict reserved earlier today after hearing arguments of NAB additional prosecutor general Jahanzeb Khan Bharwana and Nawaz Sharif’s counsel Azam Nazir Tarrar and Makhdoom Hussain.
The high court has however given the right to the PML-N supremo to file an appeal again on returning back to Pakistan as he is staying in London for more than a year for treatment after the PTI government allowed him to travel abroad.
IHC bench remarked that it is left with no option but to reject the petition since the PML-N leader is absconder.
The court had issued several notices to Nawaz Sharif to appear before it to attend the hearing of the cases filed by him but he did not show up.
The accountability court had awarded seven years sentence to Nawaz Sharif in Al-Azizia reference in 2018.