Nawaz Sharif signed the petition for restoration of appeal against the sentence

Former prime minister and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif yesterday signed petitions at the Islamabad International Airport to revive pending appeals against his convictions in the Avenfield Apartments and Al-Azizia references.

A Muslim League (N) lawyer said that the petitions have been prepared by their legal team, which will be filed in the division bench of the Islamabad High Court and are likely to be heard on Tuesday (October 24).

Nawaz Sharif’s legal team will also submit an application for protective bail, apart from this, Nawaz Sharif has to appear in the accountability court on the same day.

The former prime minister was convicted in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references and declared an admiral in the Tosha Khana case, which is being heard in the Accountability Court of Islamabad. were gone

A few days before the general elections, on July 6, 2018, Judge Muhammad Bashir of the Accountability Court declared Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif and her husband Safdar Awan guilty in the Avenfield Apartments reference. The case was investigated, which was set up to examine the revelations of the Panama Papers.

The trial court had also accused Maryam Nawaz of being the beneficial owner of offshore companies that own properties.

The division bench of the Islamabad High Court declared Nawaz Sharif as a fugitive in the Avenfield Apartments reference by invalidating the accountability court’s decision. Despite the lack of solid evidence against him, he was not acquitted.

The detailed order said that the accountability body could not satisfactorily answer the question whether the prosecution had fulfilled the required responsibility imposed on it.

The verdict said that the prosecution had to prove that Nawaz Sharif bought the Avenfield apartments in the name of Maryam Nawaz through corrupt and illegal means and that Maryam Nawaz, being his dependent, helped him by concealing the true ownership. And what was the contribution?

According to the judgment, the prosecution also had to prove that Nawaz Sharif was a public office holder when the properties were purchased, but there is no such evidence on record.

An interesting twist came when Accountability Court judge Arshad Malik (who had convicted Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia reference but acquitted him in the flagship investment case) later admitted in an audio leak that Nawaz Sharif should have been convicted. They were under pressure.

Arshad Malik was later removed from his post and died on 4 December 2020 during the Corona epidemic.

Controversy over biometric authentication

Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif’s biometric verification at the Islamabad International Airport sparked controversy on social media, with activists from several political parties, particularly the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, calling it discriminatory.

Some even alleged that the Islamabad High Court had deployed its staff at the airport to provide this special facility to Nawaz Sharif.

However, a senior officer of the Islamabad High Court dismissed this impression, insisting that biometric authentication falls under the purview of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to ensure That the applicant is filing the application himself.

He said that this procedure has become mandatory due to a few incidents in the past where applications were ignored or applications were submitted by unauthorized persons, making the process of hearing a case a wasteful one. It had become a practice.

He said that since then biometric verification has been made mandatory for filing petitions, civil miscellaneous petitions, appeals, replies and reports on behalf of respondents, biometric verification at Islamabad High Court, NADRA Service Centers or This can then be done at any kiosk or franchise offering the service.

He reminded that Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamir Farooq had also offered the same facility to PTI lawyers through franchise when Chairman PTI Imran Khan had to file a bail application, but the Wazirabad incident As I was injured, he could not come in person for the biometric verification.