ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) stopped authorities from the arrest of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia and Avenfield references. Meanwhile, the Accountability Court suspended the arrest warrant for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief in the Toshakhana case.
The two members bench of the IHC, headed by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Gul Hasan Aurangzeb, heard the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s protective bail petitions. Nawaz Sharif’s lawyers, Amjad Parvez and Azam Nazir Tarar, along with National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) Prosecutor Rafi Maqsood and Afzal Qureshi appeared before the court. The bench has issued an order preventing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting the former Prime Minister until October 24.
In 2018, Nawaz Sharif had sentenced of 10 and seven years in prison in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references, respectively.
According to PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif, who has been in self-imposed exile in London since 2019 after a lifetime disqualification in the Panama Papers case, is set to return to Pakistan on October 21.
On Wednesday, Nawaz Sharif approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking protective bail in the Al-Azizia and Avenfield references.
The petitions were filed on Nawaz’s behalf by PML-N’s Ataullah Tarar. In the pleas, Nawaz stated that he was seeking protective bail to surrender before the court upon his return to Pakistan.
The pleas mentioned that although the PML-N leader had not fully recovered, he had decided to return to Pakistan at a time when the country was grappling with the “worst-ever crises of economy and other fronts.”
Nawaz’s counsel, Amjad Pervez, informed the court that his client was seeking protective bail, citing previous judgments and emphasizing that in the past, absconders were granted protective bail to facilitate their surrender before the court.
The three-time former prime minister was declared a proclaimed offender by the IHC in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia cases due to non-compliance after he went to London for medical treatment with the court’s permission in November 2019.
