Nawaz is granted protective bail by the IHC in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia cases until October 24

Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the PML-N, was granted protective bail in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia cases until October 24 after the Islamabad High Court accepted his request.

Before the previous premier’s upcoming arrival on October 21, it occurs. After going into self-imposed exile for more than four years, he intends to return to Pakistan.

In a corruption case involving the Avenfield estates, deposed Nawaz was sentenced in July 2018 to 10 years in prison for possessing assets worth more than his known income and an additional year for refusing to cooperate with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Both sentences were to be served consecutively.

His daughter, PML-N Chief Organizer Maryam Nawaz, had also received a seven-year prison sentence in the case, but she and her husband, retired Captain Safdar, were both found not guilty in September 2022.

The Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case refers to the incident in which he was given a seven-year prison sentence on December 24, 2018, transported to Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, and then transferred the following day to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail. In the case, he was also fined Rs. 1.5 billion and $25 million.

Nawaz was granted permission by the LHC to go to London in November after being freed from prison in March 2019. In all instances, the IHC proclaimed him an offender in December 2020.

NAB Special Prosecutor Afzal Qureshi stated that the accountability watchdog did not object to petitions presented by the older Sharif. A day prior, PML-N attorneys had filed a motion with the IHC asking for protective bail for Nawaz in these two instances.

Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb and Chief Justice Aamer Farooq of the IHC took up the arguments today.

The court heard arguments from Nawaz’s attorneys, including former law minister Azam Nazir Tarar and Amjad Pervaiz. NAB prosecutors Rana Maqsood, Qureshi, and Naeem Sanghera were also present.

The chief justice questioned, “Has the NAB’s stance changed?” when Sanghera gave his defense of the PML-N leader at the beginning of the hearing.

The prosecutor answered, “NAB’s stance is the same.” He continued by recalling that the IHC had stated in its order that the petitioner could “restore his appeal” upon his return.

Justice Farooq inquired, “We had asked the same question — what was NAB’s stance? ” once more. It hasn’t changed at all, right?

“This is the stance for now,” the prosecutor retorted, “that if he comes back, we have no objection to it.”

“Who have you taken directions from?” the chief justice then questioned. Sanghera responded that the NAB prosecutor general had given him instructions.

After that, Justice Farooq instructed him to give a written declaration to the court stating that the NAB had no issues with Nawaz’s homecoming.

The former prime minister’s petition was subsequently accepted by the IHC, who also granted him a protective bail and barred the police from detaining him upon his arrival at the airport on October 21 (Saturday).

Observing that NAB had no objections to Nawaz being granted a protective bail, Justices Farooq and Aurangzeb issued orders prohibiting the police from arresting him till October 24.

Following the hearing, Pervaiz informed AFP that Nawaz Sharif has been granted protective bail until October 24 by the honorable Islamabad High Court. He said, “He cannot be detained upon arrival.”

Nawaz received a protected bail, which instructed police not to arrest him until he personally appears before the court on October 24, and Tarar confirmed this to media.

Suspension of arrest warrants in the Toshakhana case
Separately, a court of accountability in Islamabad revoked the permanent arrest warrants issued in the Toshakhana reference case against Nawaz in 2020.

He, former president Asif Ali Zardari, and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani were charged with receiving expensive cars and gifts from the Toshakhana, a division that houses gifts given to officials, legislators, and bureaucrats by heads of other governments, states, and foreign dignitaries.

A court of accountability issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the former premier in the case in June 2020. Nawaz contested the warrants at the IHC months later but later withdrew the plea.

He was charged on September 10, 2020, and an accountability court ordered that his properties be seized and that NAB apprehend him using Interpol. He was then designated as a proclaimed offender in the case.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate changes to the NAB laws and reopen graft cases against public office holders, an accountability court also summoned Zardari and Gillani in the same case last month. The following month, an accountability court ordered authorities to seize the ex-premier’s assets, including national and international bank accounts, agricultural land, and vehicles. Today, Judge Muhammad Bashir took up a petition for the suspense of the case.

The defense attorney opened the session by informing the court that Nawaz had been deemed an absconder in the case and that a petition to suspend the warrants had just been filed.

Nawaz Sharif wants to show up in court, said Misbah. On October 21, he will arrive in Pakistan. He then pleaded with the judge to put the arrest warrants on hold. The Toshakhana case, according to Judge Bashir, fell under the purview of NAB court No. 3.

On October 24, there is a hearing scheduled before your court. Nawaz Sharif desires to show up in court, Misbah informed the judge. The judge next requested a copy of the case file.

The attorney said that all pertinent information was included in the documents and that former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif had provided an undertaking when asked why Nawaz left Pakistan.

The PML-N leader was then questioned by Judge Bashir about whether he had submitted a plea to the IHC asking for protected bail in the case. Misbah said that he had not. In the Toshakhana case, warrants were issued, but no verdict was delivered, the man claimed.

The attorney claimed that in a “case of similar scale,” warrants against former finance minister Ishaq Dar were similarly stayed. Misbah responded, “When Nawaz Sharif left Pakistan, he was terribly ill. That’s why he’s not coming back to Pakistan. The medical report is provided here.

Nawaz would appear before the accountability court, Misbah assured the judge, and he claimed that the NAB had not issued an arrest order for the PML-N leader.

“Nawaz Sharif requests a hearing with the accountability court. Please revoke the warrants so that he has a way to reach the court, said Misbah.

In the meantime, the prosecutor told the court that the former prime minister “is saying he wants to surrender before the court” and has “sought two reliefs.” If the suspect wished to appear in court, he proposed that the warrants may be suspended until October 24.

In this instance, the defense attorney notified the court that the case against his client was in the “trial stage” rather than the “stage of appeal” in the accountability court. Nawaz had left the country four months before the reference was submitted, he continued.

“What about other suspects, Asif Ali Zardari?” Judge Bashir then questioned. The attorney responded by saying that a pleader is representing Zardari and the other defendants in court.

The judge inquired, “Were the other suspects arrested?” Misbah responded that no arrests had been made in the Toshakhana case.

On October 24, we will offer the case for retail. Please grant [Nawaz] permission to appear before the court because he will arrive in Pakistan on October 21.

Nawaz Sharif intends to show up in court, the prosecutor said. Even facing the law is the goal of a warrant.

The court then postponed rendering its decision. It quickly stated that the warrants had been delayed until October 24 and instructed Nawaz to appear before the court by that date to avoid further punishment.