Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has submitted a petition for protective bail in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references to the Islamabad High Court, as reported by ARY News. The petition requests the court’s approval of protective bail to allow Sharif to face the pending cases against him and secure protection from arrest as he approaches the court.
The plea states that Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on October 21, arriving via a special flight. His legal representatives have urged the court to expedite the hearing of the bail petition.
The bail petition was filed by Nawaz Sharif’s legal team, which includes Amjad Pervaiz and Azam Nazir Tarar. Former Federal Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb mentioned that Ataullah Tarar, acting as a special attorney, submitted the bail petition after undergoing the necessary biometrics process.
Earlier, a division bench of the Islamabad High Court had heard Nawaz Sharif’s appeals against these sentences but dismissed them on June 23, 2021, due to his extended stay in London, which prevented him from appearing in the high court.
Nawaz Sharif had previously been convicted by accountability courts in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references, resulting in a 10-year jail term and an eight-million-pound fine in the Avenfield case, as well as a seven-year sentence in the Al-Azizia reference. Additionally, the court had disqualified him from holding public office for a period of 10 years.
Nawaz Sharif has also requested the restoration of his appeals against the earlier convictions. On September 29 last year, the Islamabad High Court, in granting appeals, acquitted Maryam Nawaz and Captain Safdar by overturning the sentences handed down by an accountability court in the Avenfield reference. The court ruled that the sentencing of Maryam Nawaz and Captain Retired Safdar was unjust, and the National Accountability Bureau had failed to prove its case. The decision was delivered by Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani following arguments from both sides.
