Decision of the Islamabad High Court to hear the appeal on the merits of the Al-Azizia reference

The Islamabad High Court, while pronouncing the decision to hear the Al-Azizia reference on merit, rejected the plea of ​​NAB to remand the case to the accountability court and declare the decision of the reference null and void. The court decided to hear the appeal on the merits of the Al-Azizia reference against PML-N leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

The appeal against Nawaz Sharif’s sentence in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills Reference was heard by Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mian Gul Hasan, in which Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer Amjad Parvez Advocate and NAB Prosecutor appeared in the court.

During the hearing, along with Nawaz Sharif, Ishaq Dar, Maryam Aurangzeb, Atta Tarar and other religious leaders were also present. The court heard Nawaz Sharif’s appeal against the sentence and NAB’s appeal to increase the sentence. On this occasion, Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer Amjad Parvez Advocate, giving his arguments on the appeal, said that NAB filed references on the orders of the Supreme Court, which contained the same allegation.

The lawyer said in his arguments that the accountability court had acquitted Nawaz Sharif in the flagship reference. Separate references were filed on the same charge. We had submitted that only one reference should have been filed on an allegation. In the decision of November 8, 2017, the accountability court said that the three references will be disposed of together. The accountability court conducted the trial separately but asked to pronounce the verdict together.

Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer further told the court that the Islamabad High Court had upheld the order of the trial court to pronounce the verdict simultaneously and had said in its judgment that the sky would not fall from the judgment of the three cases together.

The court asked the lawyer what was the allegation in it?, to which the lawyer replied that it was a case of assets in excess of income. There are 22 witnesses in this case, out of which 13 are those who presented the records. There is no eyewitness to the incident. Only two witnesses remained, one Mehboob Alam and the other Wajid Zia. One is the investigation officer of NAB and the other is the head of JIT. I will read some portions of these witness statements to the court.

In his arguments, the lawyer told the court that according to the JIT, the MLA was sent to the authorities of Saudi Arabia, but there was no response. In the last 7 years it has been held that my father built Al-Azizia Steel Mills. Nawaz Sharif has never had anything to do with it. Al-Azizia Steel Mills was established in 2001 and Hill Metal Establishment in 2005. Hussain Nawaz was 28 years old when Al-Azizia Mills was installed. This case of Nawaz Sharif is even better than the previous case that he was not even a public office holder during that period.

The NAB prosecutor told the court that while they are arguing on merits, they also have some miscellaneous pleas. Either they withdraw their requests, to which Amjad Pervez advocate said that yes, the judge has requests regarding the video. The NAB prosecutor said that Maryam Nawaz also held a press conference in this regard, the matter went to the Supreme Court.

Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer informed the court that the judge will not follow his request regarding the video scandal. Judge Arshad Malik has passed away, so will not entertain the request regarding the video.

Justice Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb remarked that if the conduct of the judge was not right at the time of deciding the case, it would have repercussions. Tell us why he was dismissed as a judge? What was the charge? We will see if you follow this request. Arshad Malik is no more but the rest are still there. The court asked the lawyer that it is your decision whether you want to pursue this application or not.

The lawyer replied that I have been instructed that Judge Arshad Malik does not want to pursue the application related to the video scandal. I pray for Judge Arshad Malik, he is no longer in this world. Justice Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb said that now it is your choice whether you want to take up the case of Judge Arshad Malik or not because the application is there. We’ll put up a screen here and play the video, but keep in mind that this can be a double-edged sword.

Chief Justice Islamabad High Court remarked that we have 2 options as a result of Supreme Court’s decision. One is that we should decide on the merits by calling for the evidence. The second is to remand the reference back to the accountability court. If you say we will decide on merit, we will not back down. The Chief Justice talking to Advocate Azam Nazir Tarar said that you have to tell us your decision.

Advocate Azam Nazir Tarar said in the court that Nawaz Sharif has already been abused a lot. We request that this court should decide on Nawaz Sharif’s appeal on merit. Earlier also two appeals have been decided in the same court.

Justice Mian Gul Hassan remarked that even if the case is remanded back, Nawaz Sharif will be considered an accused, not convicted. The trial court will have to decide the case again and if NAB’s attitude is the same, then you won’t even have a problem, so why are you worried? One way is to dismiss the appeal, the other is to accept the appeal and acquit Nawaz Sharif. The third way is to allow the appeal and send it back to the accountability court.

During the hearing, NAB requested the court to annul the decision of Al-Azizia reference. The NAB prosecutor requested that the court annul the decision and remand the case. If the appeal is accepted on merit, the thirst will remain.

Justice Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb remarked that remanding the case could be a double-edged sword, to which Advocate Azam Nazir Tarar said that if Arshad Malik was alive, he would have requested to summon him. It is known that any decision can come from the trial court. Lawyer Amjad Pervaiz requested the court that in case of remand, the court should give a direction that the decision should be made soon. He agrees with the position of sending the case to the accountability court for re-decision. The High Court should direct the accountability court for an early decision.

Later, the Islamabad High Court rejected NAB’s request to send the case to the accountability court and decided to hear the Al-Azizia reference on merit. The court remarked that we will hear this reference on merit. The court accepted the plea of ​​Nawaz Sharif not to follow the plea related to the Judge Video Scandal case.