Lahore (Web Desk): The caretaker Punjab government on Tuesday suspended the sentence handed to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and former premier Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Aziza graft reference.
The Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference pertains to a case in which the former premier was sentenced to seven years in jail on Dec 24, 2018. He was also fined Rs1.5 billion and US$25 million.
According to reports, Nawaz Sharif had appealed to the provincial government for the suspension of his sentence under Section 401 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
Section 401 of the CrPC pertains to commutations, suspensions and remissions of sentences.
The interim cabinet accepted the request after hearing arguments presented by Nawaz's lawyers Azam Nazir Tarrar and Amjad Pervez via video link.
Earlier today, an accountability court in Islamabad confirmed Nawaz Sharif's bail in the Toshakhana case.
On Monday, the former premier filed petitions in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), seeking the restoration of appeals in Avenfield property and Al-Azizia Steel Mills 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.
The PML-N supremo 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.
