The Islamabad High Court (IHC) acquitted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference, marking a significant relief for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
The verdict was announced by an IHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb. Nawaz Sharif had previously faced convictions in both the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references but was acquitted last week by the IHC in the Avenfield reference.
Following Nawaz’s conviction, Sharif faced a 10-year jail term in the Avenfield case, a 7-year sentence in the Al-Azizia reference, and substantial fines. However, his sentence in the Al-Azizia reference was suspended by the Lahore High Court (LHC) in 2019 on medical grounds, allowing him to travel to London.
In 2020, the IHC declared him an offender in both cases. Upon his return from the UK, Nawaz Sharif filed applications seeking to restore his appeals against these convictions. The IHC rejected the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) request to remand the case back to the accountability court and decided to hear Sharif’s appeal on merit.
Sharif’s counsel, Amjad Pervaiz, argued that the NAB filed graft references based on directions from the top court and that separate references with similar allegations were unjustified. He emphasized that Sharif had no connection with the companies involved and that the prosecution failed to prove that Hussain Nawaz, the owner of Hill Metal Establishment, depended on Nawaz Sharif.
Sharif was not a public office holder from October 1999 to May 2013. The IHC weighed these arguments, along with the conduct of the then judge Arshad Malik, before deciding to acquit Nawaz Sharif on merit rather than remanding the case back to the trial court.
