F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: In a major relief for the former prime minister, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Wednesday acquitted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif in the Avenfield Apartments reference case. The court also dismissed the plea filed by the National Accountability Bureau in the Flagship reference against the PML-N supremo after the accountability watchdog withdrew it.
An IHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb announced the verdict on Nawaz’s plea to overturn his conviction in the graft case. Recently, the high court also acquitted PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz and her husband Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar in the Avenfield reference, nullifying the conviction handed to them in 2018 by an accountability court.
On July 6, 2018, the trial court sentenced Nawaz to 10 years in jail upon conviction along with a £8 million fine (approximately Rs1.3 billion), in the Avenfield corruption reference for owning assets beyond known sources of income and an additional year for not cooperating with NAB, both of them to be served concurrently. Maryam was sentenced to seven years in prison with a fine of £2 million, and one year for non-cooperation with the bureau, while her husband was handed down two-year rigorous imprisonment.
Talking to journalists outside the court after his major legal victory, Nawaz — a three-time prime minister eyeing his fourth term in next year’s general elections — said: “I had left it up to Allah. In Al-Azizia [Steel Mills corruption reference] also, I’ve also left my matters up to Allah.”
PML-N leader Azam Nazeer Tarar said that NAB had failed to present evidence against Nawaz in the Avenfield reference. He said NAB was given ample time to prove corruption allegations and establish that Nawaz and his daughter were involved in corruption but the anti-corruption watchdog failed to present substantial evidence against the PML-N leaders.
“Nawaz Sharif stands vindicated and acquitted for lack of evidence,” he added. When the hearing began, Nawaz’s lawyer Amjad Pervez told the court that the co-accused in the case — Maryam and Capt (retd) Safdar — were acquitted earlier this year. “The allegations levelled against them included aiding the crime. Islamabad High Court’s acquittal of the co-accused is final,” the lawyer said, as he then read out several sections of the NAB Ordinance.
Justice Aurangzeb added that in his view, the court had acquitted the co-accused under the same NAB Ordinance sections. “In the decision to suspend the sentence, we relied on several decisions of the Supreme Court. The decision to suspend the sentence gave the impression that the appeal was accepted.” In response, Nawaz’s lawyer asked the court whether his client had to mention the price of the assets when they were bought when he disclosed his assets to the relevant authorities.
“NAB had to present a comparison of income and asset value After that, it had to be determined out whether the value of the assets is more than the income or not. Without this comparative assessment, making more assets than income is not a crime.” The lawyer mentioned that there were cases in which the value of the assets was known but not the income, noting that in such cases, the court declared that the case could not be made because the income was not known.
At this, IHC CJ Farooq said the properties that Pervez’s lawyer had acquired were at separate times. The lawyer said he could provide the dates of the purchase of these properties. “These properties were brought in between 1993-1996. These properties have no link to appellant.”
He noted that the prosecution had not linked Nawaz to the properties in its reference. Justice Aurangzeb asked the lawyer what was the first thing that the prosecution should prove when making its case. Pervez responded that the prosecution would first have to prove that the accused is an officeholder — and he listed two more things.
