Avenfield reference: Maryam Nawaz decides to appear in IHC today

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz has decided to appear in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the Avenfield reference on Wednesday.

A two-member bench of the IHC comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani will hear the appeals of Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Capt (retd) Safdar. Earlier, Nawaz Sharif had filed a plea in IHC for exemption from appearance in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references.

Nawaz’s lawyer Khawaja Haris moved two miscellaneous applications in the IHC, stating that his client can’t appear before court and requested exemption from personal appearance on his behalf on medical grounds. In his plea, the PML-N quaid requested court to grant him exemption and stated that he is receiving medical treatment abroad so it will not be possible for him to appear before court.

He also assured the court that if the doctor gives him permission after recovery of health, he will return Pakistan in first flight. The accused have been out on bail since Sept 19, 2018 when the IHC suspended the 10-year, seven-year, and one-year imprisonment handed down to Nawaz, Maryam, and Safdar, respectively by an accountability court on July 6, 2018.

The Supreme Court later upheld the suspension of their conviction while rejecting the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) appeal against the high court’s decision.