NAB Requests Issuance Of Permanent Arrest Warrant Against Nawaz Sharif

Appeals against the convictions of Avenfield Reference, Maryam Nawaz and Capt (R) Safdar were heard in the Islamabad High Court.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has sought the issuance of a permanent arrest warrant for Nawaz Sharif.

Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani in the Islamabad High Court heard the appeals against the conviction of Maryam Nawaz and Captain Safdar in the Avenfield reference.

NAB officials appeared before the court late, to which Justice Amir Farooq remarked that if Nawaz Sharif is absconder in Azizia reference, who will provide judicial assistance? NAB and Nawaz Sharif’s lawyers should help the court whether Khawaja Harris can represent Nawaz Sharif or not.

The court remarked that the situation is severe due to Coronavirus, so do not crowd the court too much.

The hearing was adjourned for a month.

Earlier, at the request of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), miscellaneous petitions against PML-N leaders Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Captain Safdar have been fixed for hearing in the Islamabad High Court.

The NAB approached the Islamabad High Court against Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Captain Safdar and asked them to set aside various petitions for hearing.

The NAB stated in its application that the last hearing on the appeals was scheduled for December 9, 2020, and could not be held due to the cancellation of the case list.

The petition said no date could be set for appeals after December 2020. He said that the Supreme Court has recently issued clear directions for speedy decisions on NAB cases as well as forwarding cases in accountability courts.

The petition further said that the Islamabad High Court had declared Nawaz Sharif a fugitive in these cases and Nawaz Sharif was deliberately not appearing before the court.

They said that they were ready to submit the answer to the court for forwarding the cases on the judicial inquiry, therefore the mega corruption cases of Nawaz Sharif should be fixed for hearing soon.

The NAB requested that the Avenfield, Azizia and Flagship appeals be fixed soon.

The Registrar’s Office has fixed for hearing the miscellaneous petition against Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz and the miscellaneous petition filed by NAB will be heard on April 6.

It may be recalled that Azizia, Flagship and Avenfield are all references to the Panama Papers leaks relating to 785,000 offshore companies, on which Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami and Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed filed a petition in the Supreme Court.

The apex court had disqualified Nawaz Sharif as prime minister and directed the NAB to file three references against the Sharif family in the accountability court and one reference against former finance minister Ishaq Dar.

On July 6, 2018, Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir had convicted Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Capt (R) Safdar in the Avenfield reference while they were taking care of Kulsoom Nawaz in the UK.

After the sentence, members of the Sharif family came to Pakistan where they were imprisoned. Later, the Islamabad High Court suspended their sentence and released them on bail.

On the other hand, Nawaz Sharif was also convicted by Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Arshad Malik on December 24, 2018, in the Azizia reference.

Later, in a secretly recorded video, the judge admitted that he convicted Nawaz Sharif under duress, after which the judge was removed for his wrongdoing.

In October last year, the Islamabad High Court granted bail to Nawaz Sharif on eight-week medical grounds and directed him to approach the Punjab government for extension, but the provincial government rejected his bail application.

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