In a significant development for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has acquitted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference. The IHC division bench, comprised of Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb, announced the reserved verdict, overturning Sharif’s conviction in the case. This follows last week’s acquittal by the IHC in the Avenfield reference.
Nawaz Sharif, accompanied by his legal team, appeared before the court for the verdict. Previously convicted in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references, Sharif had received a 10-year jail term and a hefty fine in the Avenfield case and a 7-year sentence in the Al-Azizia reference, along with substantial fines. The court had also disqualified him from holding public office for 10 years.
However, in 2019, the Lahore High Court suspended his sentence in the Al-Azizia reference on medical grounds, allowing him to travel to the UK. Despite being declared a proclaimed offender in both cases in December 2020, Sharif returned from exile and filed applications for the restoration of his appeals against conviction.
During the recent hearing, the IHC rejected the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) request to remand the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference back to the accountability court, opting instead to hear Sharif’s appeal on merit. The defense argued that NAB had filed references based on Supreme Court directives and emphasized the need for the prosecution to prove its charges in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case.
Sharif’s counsel, Amjad Pervaiz, highlighted that there were no eyewitnesses in the case, and the prosecution failed to establish Sharif’s connection with the companies involved. The defense also addressed pending miscellaneous applications and opted not to pursue an application related to Judge Arshad Malik’s videos. The IHC is now tasked with deciding the case on merit or remanding it back to the trial court, with implications tied to the conduct of the former judge.
