Nawaz requests IHC to set aside separate indictments by accountability court

ISLAMABAD: Deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif has filed three petitions in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to set aside an order of an accountability court through which the court framed charges separately in three corruption references filed against the Sharif family by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Challenging the trial court’s order of October 19, the ousted premier has sought IHC’s directions for the accountability court to frame a joint charge and conduct a single trial against the Sharif family.

Also, the three-time PM has prayed the court to suspend proceedings before the accountability court till the framing of the joint charge. He has made state through chairman NAB and the accountability court judge respondents in the petition.

Sharif, Maryam and Safdar indicted

A division bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani will take up the petitions later in the day.

Before the indictment, the accountability court had dismissed three applications by the Sharif family.

In the applications, they prayed for a stay on the trial until the release of a detailed judgment by the Supreme Court over their review petition, requested not to frame charges as they were not provided copies of all the prosecution witnesses and appealed the court to combine the three NAB references as one and then proceed to the stage of framing charges.

The court, however, had dismissed all the applications and proceeded with the indictment. After the pleas were recorded, the court directed NAB to start producing evidence and witnesses in the references against Sharif, Maryam and Safdar. NAB would now produce two witnesses on October 26.

Sharif challenges SC Registrar Office order to reject review petition

The NAB references stem from the July 28 judgment of the Supreme Court on the Panama Papers case. NAB filed one references against Sharif, Maryam, Hussain, Hassan, and Safdar relating to the Avenfield Properties comprising flat No 16 and 16-A, 17 and 17-A Avenfield House at Park Lane area of London.

The references related to Al-Azizia Company Limited, Hill Metals Establishment, Flagship Investment and other companies are only against the former prime minister and his two sons.

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