Accountability court gets ‘final’ extension to wrap cases against Sharifs

The Supreme Court (SC) granted on Friday the final extension to an accountability court that is hearing the corruption references against the Sharif family.

A three-member bench, headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar, took up the hearing. During the proceedings, deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's counsel, Khawaja Haris, requested the bench to extend the deadline given to wrap up the case proceedings of Al Azizia and Flagship, local media reported.

The SC accepted his request and gave until November 17 to conclude the case against the Sharifs. The apex court also ruled that it will not give any more extension to the accountability court to wrap up the trial. This is the sixth time that the accountability court has been granted extension.

Nawaz, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (retd) Safdar have already been convicted in the Avenfield reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau. All three of them were sentenced to jail. Nawaz was sentenced to 10 years, while his daughter was awarded seven years and Safdar one year. However, after spending nearly two months in jail, all three were granted bail.