The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday acquitted former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia reference, Aaj News reported.

A two-member bench comprising IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb announced the verdict soon after it was reserved.

The reference was related to Nawaz being unable to justify the source of the funds provided to set up Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment (HME) in Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, the IHC had said that it would hear Nawaz Sharif’s petition against his conviction in the Al-Azizia reference on merit.

The bench rejected the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)’s request to send case back to the accountability court.

After today’s verdict, PML-N supremo has now been acquitted in the two graft cases against him: Al-Azizia and Avenfield.

The same court has acquitted Nawaz in the Avenfield reference on November 29.

In 2018, Nawaz was sentenced to ten and seven years in prison in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references, respectively.

The three-time former prime minister was declared a proclaimed offender by the IHC over non-compliance after he went to London for medical treatment with the court’s permission in November 2019.

In October this year, Nawaz returned to Pakistan after obtaining protective bail in both graft cases and surrendered before the court, after which his appeals were restored.

Reacting to the today’s judgement by the IHC, former prime minister and Nawaz’s brother, Shehbaz Sharif said, “The sham cases created to disqualify a sitting Prime Minister are finally meeting their fate”.

“The 7 years wasted were not just a personal loss but a loss of development and prosperity of Pakistan,” Shehbaz wrote in a post on X.