Nawaz Sharif acquitted in Avenfield corruption reference by IHC

The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday acquitted former three-time prime minister and PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif in the Avenfield reference, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The verdict was pronounced by a two-judge bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.

According to the report, the court acquitted Nawaz Sharif in Avenfield reference after withdrawing the appeal of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the acquittal of Nawaz Sharif in the flagship reference.

During the hearing, IHC Justice Gul Hasan remarked that the court had decided that four things must be proved for benami properties and nothing of these four things is proved in this case so it will not be considered as benami.

 The court accepted the plea to withdraw the appeal against the acquittal in the flagship reference.

The court also adjourned the hearing on Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif's appeal in the Al-Azizia reference.

The next hearing will be on the appeal against the sentence in the Al-Azizia reference and the date of hearing will be issued by the Registrar's Office.

After the decision, Nawaz Sharif talked to the media and said he had left the matter to Allah Almighty who gave him success today.

Answering another question about his expectations in the second case (Al-Azizia reference), Nawaz Sharif replied laughingly that he had also left the second case to Allah Almighty.

It may be mentioned here that in July 2018 Nawaz Sharif was handed 10 years in jail in the Avenfield Properties corruption case for owning assets beyond known income and one year for not cooperating with the NAB, both of which were to be served concurrently.

Reporter: Rosina Ali