NAB cases: IHC hears Sharif’s reference merger plea

Former premier argues that his cases are very similar, merging would reduce lacunas

ISLAMABAD: A division bench of the Islamabad High Court heard arguments from the counsel for former prime minister Nawaz Sharif requesting the court to combine references against him which are currently being heard in an accountability court.

Sharif’s counsel Azam Nazir Tarrar argued that due to the similarities between the references, at least the Azizia Steel Mills and Flagship Investment references should be combined, if not the Avenfield Apartment reference.



IHC’s division bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani said, “We will have to see on what grounds the accountability court dismissed the request to combine the references,” and adjourned the hearing till Nov 23.

On Nov 8, the accountability court held that there will be three separate references and three separate trials instead of one joint trial. While turning down Sharif’s request to conduct a single trial, the court had held that Sharif would stand trial separately in three NAB references.

Tarrar said that his client’s defence regarding the allegations in each of the three references is mostly the same, adding that the impugned order is based on presumptions and presuppositions as it envisages “complications” and “confusions” if either supplementary reference(s) are filed by NAB or “other factors” which may arise during trial.



“The learned Accountability Court, however, erroneously dismissed the petitioner’s application for joint trial, for the sake of its own convenience and to avoid any difficulty that it may face during trial, especially in respect of “other factors” which are not even specified in the impugned order,” he stated. Similarities between the two references will be taken up in the next hearing.