- Nawaz to first arrive at accountability court for Toshakhana case.
- He is also scheduled to appear at IHC to surrender in NAB cases.
- IHC granted protective bail to PML-N supremo till October 24.
ISLAMABAD: After his return to the country, ending 4-year self-imposed exile, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to appear before an accountability court and the Islamabad High Court (IHC) today amid tight security.
The senior politician is first set to attend the hearing of the Toshkhana reference in an accountability court before judge Muhammad Bashir at the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC).
Later, the former premier is scheduled to appear before the IHC in relation to two graft cases filed against him. He has moved the high court seeking bail in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references.
Ahead of his arrival at FJC, the bomb disposal squad emptied the courtroom, searching it for security purposes, while a heavy contingent of the Islamabad Police is also positioned both inside and outside the complex in the federal capital with only relevant lawyers and journalists allowed entry.
The court has, meanwhile, suspended the PML-N supremo's permanent warrant in the case to date. According to the court's decision, if Nawaz does not appear before the judge today, the aforementioned warrant against him will be restored.
Pakistan People's Party Co-chairman Asif Zardari and Senator Yusuf Raza Gilani are also co-accused in the said case.
Nawaz is being represented by his counsel Qazi Misbah in the case, who has filed three different applications in the accountability court on his behalf which include the restoration of the PML-N supremo's annexed property in the case; appointment of Nawaz's pleader in the case; and an application to submit the politician's bail bonds.
Meanwhile, Zardari's lawyer and senior PPP leader Farooq H Naek appeared in the court on behalf of his client to seek an exemption from attending the hearing.
Nawaz, on the other hand, was granted protective bail in two graft cases while his arrest warrant in the Toshakhana case was suspended by an accountability court on Thursday, two days before his return to Pakistan on October 21.
PML-N supremo to surrender before IHC
On the other hand, the PML-N supremo is also scheduled to appear before the Islamabad High Court and surrender in a case filed against the NAB reference.
The high court has already granted protective bail to the senior politician to date, ordering to stop his arrest in the case. The anti-graft body had not objected to Nawaz getting the security bond.
A hearing, conducted by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb, will be held today on the appeals against the PML-N supremo's conviction in the aforementioned reference as well as the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references.
The hearing will begin after 2:30 pm today. The NAB reference will be heard by the regular bench, while the appeals against conviction in Avenfield and Al-Azizia references will be overseen by a special divisional bench.
Nawaz, on Monday, moved the IHC seeking restoration of appeals against the accountability courts' verdicts in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia cases.
His counsel filed the petitions, requesting the court to hear the appeals on merit as earlier they were discarded for non-compliance when the PML-N supremo did not return from London after he was granted permission by the court in November 2019 to go abroad for medical treatment.
In the Avenfield petition, the PML-N chief maintained that he was sentenced in absentia on July 6, 2018 in Avenfield reference as he could not attend a court hearing in view of his wife's ailment who was undergoing treatment and on the ventilator at a hospital in London.
Nawaz said his appeals against the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references were not dismissed on merit rather they were discarded for non-compliance.
In the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference, the PML-N stalwart was sentenced to seven years in jail on Dec 24, 2018 and then taken to Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail from where he was shifted to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail next day.
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