Islamabad (Web Desk): Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and former premier Nawaz Sharif on Monday filed petitions in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), seeking the restoration of appeals in Avenfield property and Al-Azizia Steel Mills references.
Former law minister Azam Tarar and Advocate Amjad Pervaiz, filed the petitions on behalf of the former prime minister, praying the court to decide the appeals after hearing arguments on merit in the cases.
In the petitions, the PML-N leader stated that he hadn’t completely recovered from the ailment, adding he decided to return country due to the miserable economic condition of the country.
He said that he was awarded the imprisonment sentence by the accountability court in his absence on July 6, 2018.
The former premier said that his wife was under medical treatment and on the ventilator in a hospital of London. He had requested the trial court to delay the judgment but the request was rejected at that time. Despite the fact, he came back to Pakistan, faced the jail and filed appeals against his convictions, he added.
He said that the co-accused including Maryam Nawaz and her husband, had already been acquitted in Avenfield property case.
The petition further said that the appeals were terminated the in absence of the petitioner.
It said that the former prime minister couldn’t appear before the court due to his health issues, adding he had not misused his bail in manner.
It also said that the petitioner had been submitting his medical reports to the Lahore High Court (LHC).
On October 19, the IHC had accepted former PM Nawaz Sharif's pleas, granting him protective bail in both cases until October 24 (Tuesday).
After he landed at the Islamabad International Airport on October 21, the PML-N supremo signed applications for restoration of pending appeals against his convictions in the Avenfield Apartments and Al-Azizia references.
Nawaz Sharif was convicted in the Al-Azizia Mills and Avenfield corruption cases in 2018.
He was handed 10 years in jail in the Avenfield properties corruption reference for owning assets beyond known income and one year for not cooperating with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which were to be served concurrently.
He served a seven-year imprisonment at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail in the Al-Azizia Mills case before he was allowed to go to London in November 2019 on “medical grounds.”
In February 2020, the then PTI-led government had declared Nawaz Sharif an absconder, and later in the same year, an accountability court had declared him a proclaimed offender in the Toshakhana vehicles reference.