Nawaz clears all legal hurdles in way of elections

[ghazi52]

Nawaz clears another legal hurdle in way of elections, secures acquittal from IHC in Al-Azizia case​

Umer Burney
December 12, 2023

PML-N Supremo Nawaz Sharif arrives at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday. — DawnNewsTV

PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday cleared yet another legal hurdle ahead of the Feb 8 general election after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) acquitted him in the Al-Azizia reference.

A two-judge bench comprising IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb announced the verdict, which was reserved earlier in the day, while hearing Nawaz’s appeal against his conviction in the Al-Azizia reference.

The Al-Azizia case was one of the two graft references that Nawaz was convicted in. He was acquitted in the Avenfield reference on Nov 29 by the same bench.

Nawaz still remains disqualified from holding public office by the Supreme Court (SC) in the Panama Papers case, and in a later judgment interpreting Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution — the provision that involves honesty and trustworthiness — the top court ruled that the disqualification is for life.

However, earlier this year amendments were made to the Elections Act, 2017, limiting the disqualification of lawmakers to five years with a retrospective effect.

The SC has decided to form a larger bench to determine once and for all whether aspirants disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) can contest polls in light of the amendments in the Elections Act, 2017.

Further, the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference, in which Nawaz was acquitted today, pertains to a case in which he was sentenced to seven years in jail on Dec 24, 2018. He was also fined Rs1.5 billion and US$25 million.

It pertains to the Sharifs being unable to justify the source of the funds provided to set up Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment (HME) in Saudi Arabia.

The IHC had declared him a proclaimed offender in the case in December 2020. After leaving for London on medical grounds, Nawaz remained there for nearly four years and only returned to the country in October this year.

Soon after his return, Nawaz had formally filed two separate applications seeking restoration of his appeals against the conviction in reference.

In the application, the PML-N supreme leader had said that while he was abroad for medical treatment, the pending appeals were dismissed for non-prosecution. The application requested the court to revive the pending appeals to decide on these pleas on merit.

The IHC had on Oct 24 revived Nawaz’s appeals in the two reference.

At the previous hearing, the court had turned down the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) suggestion that Nawaz’s conviction in the reference be set aside and the case be re-tried. It had also declared that it would decide the PML-N supremo’s appeal on merit.

Ahead of today’s hearing, Nawaz arrived in court alongside senior PML-N leaders, including Ishaq Dar and Azam Nazeer Tarar.

PML-N rejoices at Nawaz’s acquittal​

Meanwhile, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif said his brother had been “vindicated once again”.

“The sham cases created to disqualify a sitting prime minister are finally meeting their fate,” he said in a post on X.

“The seven years wasted were not just a personal loss but a loss of development and prosperity of Pakistan,” he said, as he expressed the hope that the country would prosper once again under Nawaz’s leadership.


https://www.dawn.com/news/1797271/n...-secures-acquittal-from-ihc-in-al-azizia-case

 

[ghazi52]

He should be acquitted of all his wrong doings.

He should be compensated from Pakistan’s forex reserves from his suffering during that periods.

 

[ghazi52]