Al-Azizia reference case: IHC rejects request for suspending Nawaz's sentence

Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday postponed proceedings in a petition pertaining to Al-Azizia reference and Judge Arshad Malik video case.

The court remarked that until the appeal is not heard, the petitioner's sentence cannot be suspended. The court further stated that due to holidays, the appeals could not be heard immediately. Sharif's legal team last week pleaded the court to suspend his sentence and release him on bail.

Earlier, the IHC's registrar office had raised some administrative objections to the petition; however, it was fixed for hearing after some delay.

Nawaz's lead defense lawyer Khawaja Haris insisted the court to hear the case as the appeal has been fixed for hearing after the court holidays, which will end on Tuesday.

Last week, the IHC Registrar's Office raised some administrative objections to the petition as the legal team submitted with it over 4,000 documents, including papers in foreign languages. Some documents were not readable due to which the petition was fixed for hearing after a delay.

But on September 19, the IHC granted all three bails after suspending their sentences. NAB's appeal against the suspension of the sentence remains pending before the SC. Since September 2017, Sharif has appeared before the accountability courts some 165 times, according to the former premier himself.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019