The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Saturday constituted a two-member bench for hearing an application filed by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, seeking suspension of sentence awarded to him in Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference case. Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Amir Farooq would resume the bail application's hearing on January 7. Sharif has pleaded the court to suspend his sentence and release him on bail.
In the application, he claimed that the accountability court's judgement was based on 'misunderstanding' and 'misinterpretation of the law' and the evidences were addressed inappropriately. The application further remarked that the grievances of the accused were not heard and addressed. Furthermore, he has requested the court for a bail until his application of sentence suspension is not heard.
The accountability court on December 24, 2018 convicted Sharif in Al-Azizia reference and sentenced him to seven years in prison and acquitted him in Flagship reference case filed by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in mega corruption scandal. In the 131-page judgement written by the accountability court Judge Arshad Malik, reasons of his conviction were mentioned. It said that the prosecution has successfully established all the ingredients of the offence of corruption committed by Sharif, and that he has failed to provide legal money trail of his assets.
Later, Sharif was arrested from the premises of the accountability court. After spending a night at Adiyala Jail in Rawalpindi, he was shifted to Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore. Earlier, the NAB had filed three cases - Avenfield, Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metals Establishment and offshore companies, including Flagship Investment Limited - against the Sharifs on the Supreme Court's directives in the July 2017 Panama Papers case verdict. The trial commenced later in September that year.
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