Bringing back Nawaz: SAPMs ignorant about committee

Say they only came to know about panel through media

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders have said that they are unaware of the formation of a committee to bring back party supremo Nawaz Sharif, but have been informed through the media.

“We have only heard of the legal committee formed by the party to devise a legal strategy for former premier Nawaz Sharif’s return through the media that apparently we are a part of,” special assistants to PM Irfan Qadir and Attaullah Tarar said, asserting that they don’t have any firsthand information of the constitution of any such committee by the party.

Interestingly, both of them also refused to outrightly deny this committee, that according to reports comprise of Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, SAPM on Accountability and Interior Qadir, SAPM on Legal Affairs Tarar and other lawyers that have remained a part of Nawaz’s legal battles.

The committee will, as per details, chalk out a plan of action to take on the cases to undo not only Nawaz’s disqualification but also acquit him in the Avenfield Apartments and Al Azizia references.

Strangely, despite many in the party indicating that Nawaz was weighing his options to return to the country prior to the elections, there was no official confirmation of his return.

Though it was clear that the party wanted Nawaz to hit the ground running and lead the party in the election campaign.

The party wants Nawaz’s disqualification matter to be addressed at the earliest and get him acquitted in two major cases – Avenfield Apartments and Al Azizia Steel Mills.

Though the Avenfield Apartments case seems relevantly straightforward, as during the review of the case, Maryam Nawaz and her husband who were convicted by the accountability court in 2018 were acquitted by the Islamabad High Court after the prosecution failed to establish its case against them.

However, a legal battle awaits Nawaz in the Al Azizia reference, wherein he was sentenced to seven years in prison and was disqualified for 10 years.

The most important battles of all was Nawaz’s disqualification for life by the SC in 2017 in the Panama Papers case, which according to legal experts had attained finality.