Key players of the legal battle

Defence, prosecution argued on case from September 2017

For the country's most-followed case, deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif chose leading lawyer Khawaja Haris to represent him in the high-profile corruption trial against members of the Sharif family.

Haris also represented Nawaz in the plane hijacking case and worked as the advocate general of Punjab during Shehbaz Sharif’s previous tenure as chief minister.

In this decade's most high-profile case, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chose senior prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi to take up their case against Nawaz Sharif and his family in the three corruption references filed.



Born in Azaad Jammu and Kashmir, Abbasi graduated from AJK University and Degree college, Dhir Kot. He earned his law degree from Punjab Law College, Rawalpindi. Licensed from Punjab Bar Council in 2005, Abbasi has eight years of working experience in criminal law.

In July 2014, he joined NAB as senior prosecutor, and represented the bureau in all high profile cases. Abbasi's portfolio shows numerous cases in favour of NAB in a short span including mega projects like the RPP case where bail was dismissed, the Sharjeel Memon case and the drugs pricing case with Rs1 billion recovery.

Abbasi was awarded the Best Performance Award by President Hussain Mamnoon in 2016 and the following year he was awarded the merit certificate by then chairman Qamar Zaman.

Maryam's counsel

Muhammad Amjad Pervaiz, Advocate Supreme Court, is a graduate from Law College, University of Punjab. His career started in 2000, and has over two dozen cases to his merit involving interpretation of multiple questions of law in public importance.



Famous for his expertise as a defence counsel of white collar criminals, he successfully took up high profile cases against NAB defending renowned politicians, bureaucrats, bankers and businessmen, including Farooq Sattar, Jahangir Badar, Chaudhry Moonis Elahi, Chaudhry Abdul Hameed and Rana Nazir.

His cases involve cooperative scams, Bank of Punjab scam, Hajj scam, NICL scam, EOBI scams, ETBP scam. Presently, he is representing different accused persons in the Ashiyana housing scheme and Sharjeel Memon's reference. Pervaiz is apolitical and doesn't affiliate himself with any political party and is known for his professionalism.