A two-member bench of the IHC, comprising of Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, resumed the hearing of Nawaz’s petition against the Avenfield verdict.

During the hearing, Justice Athar Minallah said that the registrar’s office informed the judges that incorrect statements - attributed to judges - were aired after the hearing on August 13. “We have taken serious notice of this. We are also forwarding the matter to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA),” the judge said.

“Which bench were the incorrect statements received from?” he asked. Justice Minallah stated, “If judgments are given on one’s wishes then there will be no justice.” He also said that we value the media, but those who are indulging in these acts are involved in contempt of court.

Justice Minallah continued, “For a fair trial, it is essential to have trust in the legal system and if trials start taking place outside court, then that is contempt of court.” The judge further said that they were under no pressure from anyone and would pass judgments based on law, regardless of the convict.

During the trial, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s counsel Khawaja Harris concluded his arguments before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday regarding the ousted prime minister’s petition to suspend the accountability court’s verdict against him in the Avenfield properties reference.

A two-member bench of the IHC, comprising of Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, resumed the hearing of Nawaz’s petition. As the hearing progressed, Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi sought time to provide ‘paragraph-wise comments’ in line with the request of Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Harris.

Abbasi requested the court to adjourn the hearing for two days so he could formulate a reply as he did not receive a copy of the court order on time. However, Justice Minallah remarked, “The hearing cannot be adjourned on these grounds.”

The NAB counsel further appealed that he was not in town, however, the bench rejected his plea and Nawaz’s counsel was forced to present his arguments before the court. Justice Minallah then turned to Harris and remarked, “According to you, there’s no record of Nawaz’s property.”

To this statement, Nawaz’s counsel responded, “NAB witnesses have agreed that there was no evidence against Nawaz.” Further, Abbasi said, “NAB has brought forth records of known sources of income of Nawaz and his children.”

Following the deputy prosecutor’s statement, Justice Athar Minallah questioned how known sources of income were brought on record. “This is not a case of money laundering,” he said. Responding to the judge, Abbasi said that he would explain it to the judges. However, Justice Athar Minallah asked, “What is the contradiction when the worth of assets is not known?”

Further, Harris informed the two-judge bench that prosecution’s star witness and Panamagate Joint Investigation Team (JIT) head Wajid Zia presented a chart of assets. “Reservations were raised in the JIT report on this chart which is on record,” Nawaz's counsel added.

The Sharif family had petitioned against their convictions in the Avenfield reference. Nawaz had also filed a plea to transfer the Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment corruption references from the court of Judge Mohammad Bashir to another accountability court.

Later, IHC had clubbed the two references. During Wednesday’s proceedings, the court had accepted Nawaz’s plea. The hearing of Maryam and Nawaz’s petition against conviction in the Avenfield case was adjourned till August 13.