Avenfield reference: IHC to hear Nawaz, Maryam and Safdar's pleas on September 1

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has scheduled for hearing pleas of former premier Nawaz Sharif, his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, and son-in-law, Captain Safdar (retd), against Avenfield reference for September 1st.

According to the cause list issued by the IHC's registrar, a special bench comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani will hear the case. The IHC is set to hear the case after a passage of 22 months, since the last hearing of the appeal on September 19th, 2018.

At the last hearing, the IHC had suspended the 10-year, seven-year, and one-year jail sentences awarded to Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, and Safdar, respectively, by accountability court on July 6th, 2018. The accused have since been out on bail.

The court is also set to hear Nawaz's appeal filed against his conviction in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference on September 1st, while the NAB's appeals - one seeking an increase in the former premier's sentence in the Al-Azizia reference from seven years to 14 years, and the other against his acquittal in the Flagship Investment reference - have also been fixed for hearing.

Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Arshad Malik had given the verdicts in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Flagship references. However, he was later sacked following a video scandal, which showed him confessing that he had been blackmailed into convicting Nawaz.