IHC Justice Aurangzeb notes NAB was compelled to file reference after SC verdict n Ex-PM says grateful to Allah Almighty over acquittal in court cases n NAB withdraws Flagship reference against PML-N leader.

 

ISLAMABAD  -  The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednes­day acquitted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Quaid and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Aven­field reference, removing a major obstacle for him to run in parliamentary elections scheduled in February 2024. 

The decision was an­nounced by a two-mem­ber bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mian­gul Hassan Aurangzeb. The court also dismissed the plea filed by the Na­tional Accountability Bureau in the Flagship reference against the PML-N supremo af­ter the accountability watchdog withdrew it.

Following the court ruling, Nawaz Sharif ex­pressed gratitude to Al­lah Almighty for his ac­quittal in the Avenfield reference by the Islam­abad High Court. While talking to reporters, Nawaz Sharif said that he had entrusted his matters and problems, including the cases, to Allah Almighty. He was now extremely grateful to the Almighty as he stood vindicated today by His grace, he added.

During the hearing, Sharif’s counsel Amjad Pervez told the bench that the co-accused in the case Maryam and Capt (retd) Safdar were acquit­ted earlier this year. He add­ed that the allegations leveled against them included aiding the crime. He told that the IHC’s acquittal of the co-accused is fi­nal as he then read out several sections of the NAB Ordinance. 

The counsel said that the ac­countability court had acquitted the PML-N leader from Section 9A of the NAB Ordinance in the Avenfield reference. He argued that now, only section 9A (5) is remaining in the case which per­tains to assets beyond means. He continued that under Section 9A (5), the prosecution has to prove certain facts and the accused is required to be shown as a pub­lic office holder. He also said that the law states that the accused’s income should not match with his assets.

Justice Miangul Hassan said that in his view, the court had acquitted the co-accused un­der the same NAB Ordinance sections. He added that they relied on several judgements of the Supreme Court for the verdict on the suspension of the sentence.

The judge added that later the apex court had further elabo­rated on the matter and direct­ed the lawyer to assist the court on this. At this, Sharif’s counsel said that the investigation agen­cy has to investigate the source of the assets at the time of their acquisition and compare known sources of income with the val­ue of the assets. He maintained that but this case is such that its contents have yet not been proven. He contended that the investigators failed to prove all the sections of crime.

The counsel also contended that the NAB had to present a comparison of income and as­set value and after that, it had to be determined out whether the value of the assets is more than the income or not. Without this comparative assessment, mak­ing more assets than income is not a crime.

He argued that there were cases in which the value of the assets was known but not the income, noting that in such cas­es, the court declared that the case could not be made because the income was not known.

At this juncture, the IHC Chief Justice said that the proper­ties that his client had acquired were at separate times. Then, the lawyer submitted date-wise details of Nawaz’s assets in court. The lawyer said he could provide the dates of the purchase of these properties. He added that these properties were brought in between 1993-1996 and these properties have no link to appellant. He noted that the prosecution had not linked Nawaz to the properties in its reference.

The IHC bench asked the law­yer what was the first thing that the prosecution should prove when making its case. Pervez responded that the prosecution would first have to prove that the accused is an office-holder. He added that the NAB was not able to prove anything and the Panama verdict, JIT, and NAB in­vestigation report did not prove Nawaz Sharif’s relationship with the property.

He mentioned that there is nothing in the reference that proves Nawaz’s relationship with the properties and for­mer FIA DG Wajid Zia also ad­mitted that there is no evidence to prove Nawaz’s connection to the properties. He also point­ed out that in the indictment, it was stated that your assets are not in accordance with the de­clared income. However, no one was able to determine the value of the assets.

He said that it was NAB’s re­sponsibility to prove that Nawaz had actually paid to acquire the property. He mentioned that the institution had to also prove that the property was either in Nawaz’s possession or a benam­idars. He maintained that but there is nothing to prove this.

IHC CJ Justice Farooq asked whether all of this was the pros­ecution’s job. At this, the lawyer said, “yes”, this is the prosecu­tion’s job.

At one point, Justice Aurang­zeb asked the NAB prosecutor if he was noting the points high­lighted by Pervaiz. He added that he is talking about very im­portant things. The NAB prose­cutor replied that yes sir, I am noting. Justice Aurangzeb said that but the former did not have a pen in his hands, prompting laughter in the courtroom.

Nawaz’s counsel contended that the prosecution was also responsible for explaining how the public office was used to ac­quire “benaami properties” and read orders issued by the SC re­garding the matter.

The bench observed, “We are aware of the main contents of benaami under the criminal law,” and directed the lawyer to assist the court regarding the same under the NAB Ordinance.

Responding to the arguments, the NAB prosecutor said that the reference was filed due to the SC’s judgement to which Justice Aurangzeb noted that the court’s understanding was that the accountability watch­dog was compelled to file the reference. After hearing the ar­guments, the court announced the verdict by acquitting Nawaz in the Avenfiled reference.