Islamabad HC transfers remaining cases against Nawaz Sharif

The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday ordered to transfer pending corruption cases - Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment- involving former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, to another court.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb ordered the transfer of the cases to a different court following a plea filed by Sharif's legal counsel requesting the court to transfer the two cases from one Accountability Court to another, reported The Dawn.

The Sharif family had also filed an appeal against their convictions in connection to the Avenfield reference case.

The court was adjourned till Wednesday without hearing Captain (retired) Safdar Awan's plea against his conviction in the Avenfield reference. The plea against the conviction of Nawaz and daughter Maryam in the same case was also adjourned till Monday.

On Monday, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi asserted that the transfer of the corruption references against the Sharif was not possible post-indictment.

In the last hearing on July 18, Sharif's legal counsel Khawaja Haris had reiterated his reservations about the same judge hearing the proceedings of all the three corruption cases against the Sharif family.

The Accountability Court judge replied that he wrote the matter to the IHC and added that transferring the case from one court to another court did not come under his jurisdiction.

On July 17, the IHC cancelled the bail requests of Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar, in connection to the Avenfield properties case.