Sharifs to spend Eid in jail

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar will spend their Eid-ul-Zuha in jail after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) deferred its ruling on pleas seeking their release.

The PML-N leader appeared before the IHC on Monday for hearing in the remaining Al-Azizia Steel Mills and the Hill Metal Establishment cases.

The IHC's division bench comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb in their ruling said that "at this stage we are not inclined to decide these petitions and they shall remain pending and fixed along with the appeals", Dawn online reported.

Sharif along with his daughter and son-in-law are serving a jail term of 10 years, 7 years and one year respectively after being convicted on July 6 by the accountability court in Avenfield properties case -- the family's ownership of four luxury flats in London through illegal means.

Following the verdict, they separately filed appeals requesting the court to set aside the judgment as well as petitions seeking suspension of the sentences.

This will be the second time Sharif will be spending Eid in detention. Earlier, after the October 1999 coup, he was taken into custody and spent the festival in detention.

The trio's appeals will now be heard after the summer vacations of the courts end on September 11.

--IANS

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