The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has decided to conduct a substantive hearing on PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s appeal against his conviction in the Al-Azizia reference, rejecting the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) request to send the case back to the accountability court. The IHC division bench, led by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, opted to examine the case on its merits despite NAB’s call for referral.
Nawaz Sharif had been sentenced to seven years in imprisonment and a fine of 2.5 million pounds in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference. The former prime minister filed an appeal seeking to overturn the verdict. NAB argued for an increased sentence, claiming the accountability court’s judgment was too lenient.
The legal proceedings trace back to 2017 when the Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif, leading to multiple references filed by NAB. Despite earlier dismissals and complications, Nawaz Sharif’s return to the country in October 2022 resulted in the restoration of his appeals. The IHC’s decision to hear the Al-Azizia appeal on its substantive grounds adds another chapter to this ongoing legal saga.
