Info minister Aamir Mir explains ex-PM’s sentence not suspended as govt has referred the matter to court n IHC extends Nawaz Sharif’s protective bail till Oct 26 in Avenfield and Al-Azizia references.

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD  -  The caretaker Punjab cabi­net Tuesday made a signifi­cant decision by suspending the sentence of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Mian Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azi­zia reference case. 

The development came on a day when Nawaz Sharif was sched­uled to attend multiple hearings at an accountability court and the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Notably, Nawaz Sharif’s sentence had previously been suspended under the same law on medical grounds when he departed for London in 2019, during the ten­ure of the PTI government. 

This decision, reached through a summary approved by circula­tion, has raised concerns among other political parties especial­ly the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf which has rejected the decision maintaining that the provincial government had now powers to suspend the sentence of a per­son convicted by the National Accountability Bureau. 

Caretaker Information Min­ister Aamir Mir confirmed the decision, stating that the cab­inet had used its constitution­al powers under Section 401 of the Criminal Procedural Code (CPC) to approve the suspension of the former prime minister’s sentence. This section grants the cabinet the authority to pardon offenders. Mir also made it clear that the final decision regarding the case would ultimately rest with the court. Talking to a news channel, Amir Mir mentioned that Nawaz Sharif had formally requested the Punjab cabinet to suspend his sentence. 

It’s worth noting here that Nawaz Sharif had been sen­tenced by an accountabili­ty court in both the Avenfield and Al-Azizia Steel Mills refer­ences. The sentence was chal­lenged in the high court, which had suspended the account­ability court’s verdict. However, when the politician travelled to London for medical treatment and did not return to pursue the case, the appeal proceedings were left pending.

Nawaz Sharif, instead of ap­proaching the Islamabad High Court, moved to the Lahore High Court (LHC) and was granted permission to go abroad for four weeks, backed by an undertak­ing from his brother and par­ty president, Shehbaz Sharif, as­suring his return once his health improved. During Nawaz’s ab­sence, the IHC dismissed the appeals on the grounds of 

non-prosecution, declaring him a proclaimed offender. The court clarified that the rejec­tion of the appeals was based on technicalities rather than the merits of the arguments. The court also mentioned that the applicant could file an ap­peal against the sentence upon his return. Meanwhile, Caretak­er Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi clarified that the sen­tence in the Al-Azizia reference has not been suspended; rath­er, the case has been referred to the court. 

Talking to reporters after vis­iting Jinnah Hospital, the chief minister informed that during the previous Buzdar adminis­tration, Nawaz Sharif’s request was denied without a prop­er hearing. “Now, the court has been entrusted with the deci­sion to grant or deny bail. The case has been forwarded to the court under Section 401.

He also said that the Punjab government is expected to re­ceive many more such applica­tions in the days to come. Naqvi assured that such applications would receive prompt attention from the government.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) extended the protective bail of Nawaz Sharif till October 26 in both Avenfield and Al-Azizia references.

The IHC division bench com­prising Chief Justice of IHC Jus­tice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb con­ducted hearing of the petition and it also issued notices to the NAB in Sharif’s petitions seek­ing restoration of his appeals against his sentence in both the cases. The bench extended the protective bail after the Nation­al Accountability Bureau (NAB) said that it had “no objection” to the plea filed by the former prime minister.

Nawaz Sharif along with his brother Shahbaz Sharif and oth­er PML-N leaders appeared be­fore the court seeking resto­ration of his appeals against his sentence in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references.

The bench wrote in its order that it was submitted that since prosecution has sought time to obtain instructions and to make appropriate submission, it is only appropriate that protec­tion be afforded to the petition­er till such date. 

It added, “When confront­ed, learned Prosecutor General, NAB specifically stated that he has no objection to the exten­sion of protection earlier grant­ed to the petitioner.”

“In view of the referred po­sition, protection afforded to the petitioner vide order dat­ed 19.10.2023 is extended till the next date of hearing and he shall not be arrested in the meanwhile. On the next date of hearing, learned counsel for the petitioner shall also satisfy the Court regarding maintainabili­ty of the instant petition,” main­tained the bench.

During the hearing, PML-N leader’s counsel Azam Nazir Tarar said that the accountabili­ty court had suspended Nawaz’s warrants in the Toshakha­na case and approved his bail against surety bonds.

The IHC Chief Justice said that there were two petitions in front of the high court, both of which were related to res­toration of appeals against Nawaz’s conviction. He added that they have to issue notic­es on these applications. Mean­while, Justice Miangul Hassan said that for the restoration of the appeals, the petitioner had to explain why he remained ab­sent from the court. Tarar said that they just wanted to move as per the law and you are an ex­pert at that.

However, Justice Aamer ob­served that keeping Article 10-A (right to a fair trial) of the Con­stitution aside, the petitioner had to provide an explanation for his absences from the court. He added that you will have to prove that your absence was not deliberate and based on ill intention. Tarar replied that the Lahore High Court had grant­ed Nawaz permission to leave the country over medical rea­sons. Justice Aamer said that you have made a mistake here and asked that if matters were pending in one high court, could another high court allow that.

Justice Aurangzeb also ques­tioned the law, a court had to follow when petitions had been filed for restoration of appeals.

Justice Aamer remarked that this is not a matter of routine adding that the court would is­sue notices to the opposing side. “It is necessary for the court to be satisfied by your reasons,” he said. Then, PML-N’s Tarar requested the court to extend Nawaz’s protective bail so that they could prepare for further arguments to which Justice Fa­rooq asked the prosecutor gen­eral of NAB to give his opinion on the matter.

In his response, the NAB offi­cial said the bureau had read the petition for restoration of ap­peal and did not have any objec­tions to it. He further said that they had no objections to the ex­tension in the protective bail.

At this juncture, Justice Au­rangzeb asked that whether it is the same NAB? He added, “I am hearing these cases after five years and am trying to un­derstand if this is the same NAB. He also asked whether the NAB is saying that charges of corrupt practices should remain, but the convict should be released? He added that let’s ask the NAB chairman why he is wasting pub­lic time. He continued, “If the NAB has no objections, why it does not take back the case? He then asked the bureau’s prose­cutor general to take a “definite position” and instructed him to communicate NAB’s clear po­sition on the matter at the next hearing. Later, the court issued notices to the NAB on Nawaz’s petitions for restoration of the appeals against his conviction and bail while it also extended his protective bail till tomorrow.

Earlier in the day, Nawaz Shar­if appeared before the Account­ability Court in Islamabad for attendance in the Toshakhana reference filed by NAB.