Lahore High Court’s Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza has refused to hear a petition against the Sharif family’s conviction in the Avenfield properties corruption reference due to some personal reasons.
Justice Mirza was heading a three-member bench constituted on August 4 to hear senior lawyer A.K. Dogar’s petition in which it was requested to nullify the punishment given to the Sharifs in the Avenfield reference.
Furthermore, Justice Mirza referred the case to Lahore High Court Chief Justice after his refusal to hear the case.
Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi and Justice Mujahid Mustaqeem made up the rest of the bench.
Earlier, a petition was filed in the Lahore High Court challenging the convictions on grounds that the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) law was no more valid after the implementation of 18th amendment.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was sentenced under this 'dead law' which is illegal, Dogar argued in the petition, and requested to nullify the sentences of Nawaz, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Captain (retired) Safdar.
Prior to that, on July 6, an accountability court had sentenced Nawaz Sharif to a total of 11 years in prison and imposed a £8 million fine (Rs1.3 billion) on him in the Avenfield corruption reference. His daughter Maryam was sentenced to eight years in prison with a £2 million fine (Rs335 million), while her husband Capt (retired) Safdar was given a one-year sentence without any fine.
