A two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday acquitted Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Nawaz Sharif in the Avenfield reference, leaving just one pending conviction barring his participation in the upcoming general elections.
Led by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and including Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, the bench was hearing Sharif’s appeal against his conviction in the case. In July 2018, an accountability court had sentenced the PMLN leader to 10 years’ imprisonment in the Avenfield corruption reference for owning assets beyond known income and a concurrent sentence of 1 year for not cooperating with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The former prime minister had appealed the conviction but had not pursued the case after leaving for London on medical grounds in 2019, with the IHC declaring him a proclaimed offender in the case in December 2020. Since his return on Oct. 21, he has actively pursued appeals in both the Avenfield and the Al-Azizia references, the latter of which remains pending.
During today’s hearing, Sharif’s lawyer Amjad Pervaiz argued that the accountability court had acquitted his client from Section 9A of the NAB Ordinance in the Avenfield reference and only Section 9A(5), pertaining to assets beyond means, remained. “Under Section 9A(5), the prosecution has to prove certain facts and the accused is required to be shown as a public office holder,” he said, adding the accused’s income should not match with his assets under the law.
Justice Aurangzeb noted that Sharif’s sentence was suspended on the same basis. Pervaiz then contended that NAB must investigate the source of the assets at the time of their acquisition and compare known sources of income with the value of the assets. In this case, he maintained, investigators failed to prove all the sections of crime.
Submitting details of Sharif’s assets from 1993 to 1996, he noted that the reference had not linked the properties to the former prime minister at any point. “Whether it is the joint investigation team, NAB reports, references or statements, the value of these properties were not written anywhere,” he said, adding there was no proof of any connection between Nawaz and these properties. The prosecution’s witness, Wajid Zia, he said, had also stated during cross-examination that he had no evidence to prove any connection between Sharif and the properties.
Pervaiz then argued that the most important question was of the ownership of the properties. “There is no verbal or documented evidence that these properties were ever owned by Nawaz Sharif,” he said, noting the prosecution also had to prove Maryam Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz were under Sharif’s patronage. “But there is no evidence for that either,” he argued, informing the bench that this was the job of the prosecution.
Further, argued the lawyer, the prosecution was responsible for explaining how Sharif’s public office was used to acquire “benaami properties” and read out relevant Supreme Court orders. He said the accountability court had issued the verdict against Sharif on “the basis of assumption” and penned the verdict on the basis of generality, not evidence. It had said, he argued, that Maryam was a beneficial owner and also under the patronage of Sharif. The ruling stated, he noted, that children were in “most circumstances” dependent on their father.
Referring to the acquittal of Maryam and her husband, Capt. (retd.) Safdar, by the IHC in the same case, he said the court had ruled that the prosecution did not have a single evidentiary document in the case.
Taking the rostrum, the NAB prosecutor argued the reference was filed due to the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Panama Papers case. To this, Justice Aurangzeb said it was also the court’s understanding that NAB was “compelled” to file the reference.
Speaking with journalists outside the court after his acquittal, Nawaz said he had left the matter up to Allah and was grateful to be acquitted. “In Al-Azizia [Steel Mills corruption reference] also, I’ve left my matters up to Allah,” he added.
The Avenfield reference concerns the purchase of four flats at Avenfield House, Park Lane, London. Sharif, Maryam and Safdar were indicted on Oct. 19, 2017 on the basis of the Panama Papers judgment, which had stated the PMLN leader was unable to explain the timeframe and procedure adopted for his sons’ possession of Avenfield apartments. In addition to his sentence, the accountability court had also fined Sharif £8 million in the case.