The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday extended PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif\u2019s protective bail in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia cases \u2014 in which he had been convicted \u2014 till October 26, after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) said it had \u201cno objections\u201d to the plea filed by the deposed prime minister. An IHC division bench, comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, issued the order on Nawaz\u2019s petitions seeking protective bail in the cases and restoration of his appeals against his conviction. In July 2018, ousted Nawaz 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 NAB, which was to be served concurrently. The Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference pertains to the case in which he was sentenced to seven years in jail on Dec 24, 2018 and then taken to Rawalpindi\u2019s Adiala Jail, from where he was shifted to Lahore\u2019s Kot Lakhpat jail next day. He was also fined Rs1.5 billion and US$25 million in the case. Nawaz was released from jail in March 2019, following which he left for London in November 2019 after the LHC allowed him to do so. The IHC declared him a proclaimed offender in both cases in December 2020. Last week, the IHC had confirmed Nawaz\u2019s protective bail in the cases till Oct 24, paving the way for his homecoming on Oct 21. During the proceedings today, Nawaz appeared before the court along with his brother Shehbaz Sharif and several other party leaders. At the outset of the hearing, PML-N\u2019s Azam Nazir Tarar said the accountability court had suspended Nawaz\u2019s warrants in the Toshakhana case and approved his bail against surety bonds. Here, Justice Farooq said there were two petitions in front of the high court, both of which were related to restoring appeals against Nawaz\u2019s conviction. \u201cWe have to issue notices on these applications,\u201d the judge added. Meanwhile, Justice Aurangzeb said that for the restoration of the appeals, the petitioner had to explain why he remained absent from the court. At that, Tarar said: \u201cWe just want to move as per the law and you are an expert at that.\u201d However, Justice Farooq maintained that keeping Article 10-A (right to a fair trial) of the Constitution aside, the petitioner had to provide an explanation for his absences from the court. \u201cYou will have to prove that your absences were not deliberate and based on ill intention,\u201d Justice Farooq added. For his part, Tarar said the Lahore High Court had granted Nawaz permission to leave the country over medical reasons. \u201cYou have made a mistake here,\u201d Justice Farooq pointed out, asking that if matters were pending in one high court, could another high court allow that. Justice Aurangzeb also questioned the law a court had to follow when petitions had been filed for restoration of appeals. \u201cThis is not a matter of routine, this is a matter of show cause,\u201d the IHC CJ remarked, adding that the court would issue notices to the opposing side. \u201cIt is necessary for the court to be satisfied by your reasons,\u201d he said. At one point, PML-N\u2019s Tarar requested the court to extend Nawaz\u2019s protective bail so that they could prepare for further arguments to which Justice Farooq asked the prosecutor general of NAB to give his opinion on the matter. In his response, the NAB official said the bureau had read the petition for restoration of appeal and did not have any objections to it. He further said that they had no objections to the extension in the protective bail. \u201cIs this the same NAB?\u201d Justice Aurangzeb asked here. \u201cI am hearing these cases after five years and am trying to understand if this is the same NAB,\u201d he said. \u201cIs the NAB saying that charges of corrupt practices should remain, but the convict should be released?\u201d the judge further asked. \u201cLet\u2019s ask the NAB chairman why he is wasting public time.\u201d Justice Aurangzeb also asked: \u201cIf NAB has no objections, why doesn\u2019t it take back the case?\u201d He then asked the bureau\u2019s prosecutor general to take a \u201cdefinitive position\u201d and instructed him to communicate NAB\u2019s clear position on the matter at the next hearing. The court subsequently issued notices to the NAB on Nawaz\u2019s pleas for restoration of the appeals against his conviction and bail. It also extended the PML-N supremo\u2019s protective bail till Thursday. Earlier, talking to reporters, Nawaz was asked if he would participate in the upcoming polls to which the PML-N supremo smiled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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