LAHORE/ISLAMABAD  -  The Lahore Account­ability Court in its de­tailed verdict issued on Thursday acquitted ex-premier Nawaz Shar­if in a reference pertain­ing to the alleged ille­gal allotment of plots in 1986 stating that the record showed that the PML-N supremo had be­come the victim of polit­ical victimisation.

Judge Rao Ab­dul Jabbar had ac­quitted Nawaz Shar­if last month while Jang Group owner Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman was acquitted in the case in January 2022. The detailed verdict issued by Judge Jabbar Thursday says that the proper procedure for declaring an individual a proclaimed offender had not been followed. The order said that under Section 87 of the Code of Crim­inal Procedure, one could only be declared a proclaimed offender if the court was satisfied after recording the evidence of the process server — who exe­cuted the warrants at the accused’s address and fulfils all other formalities.

“In this case, the record is silent regarding who issued the warrants, pub­lications or documents containing the material to inform the accused to ap­pear before the court of law. This is a mandatory condition, otherwise, the entire proceedings become void and illegal.” The order also referred to an earlier judgement and said that precedent showed there were conditions for the issuance of a proclamation, specifically that proceedings should have be­gun when the accused had not left the country and that he was in hiding to avoid facing the law. “If the accused had already left the country before any notice, summon, warrant or proceedings were issued to appear before the court of law, then the entire proceedings become illegal and void ab-initio.”

The judge said that the court’s decision to declare Nawaz a proclaimed of­fender in the case was “not in line with the parameters settled and followed by the apex court”. The order said that Nawaz was also entitled to the same relief as the principled accused, Rehman, in the case, “having a lesser role and on a better legal footing as compared to the acquitted co-accused.”

“The record reflects that the accused Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had become the victim of political victimisation, and perhaps the NAB authorities were constrained to prepare the reference at the behest of the then-ruling junta to damage and destroy the political carrier [sic] and goodwill of the ac­cused who had been three times elected prime minister of Pakistan.”