The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday potentially laid to rest the specter of Panamagate haunting former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's political resurgence. The IHC, led by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, absolved him in the remaining case from the Panama verdict – the Al-Azizia reference.
During the hearing of Nawaz's appeal against his conviction in the Al-Azizia reference, the two-judge bench nullified the accountability court's seven-year imprisonment sentence. Additionally, the court rejected the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) plea to return the reference to the trial court.
The court's decision nullified the accountability court's imposition of a seven-year imprisonment sentence, while rejecting the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) plea to return the reference to the trial court.
CJ Aamer Farooq pointed out during the proceedings that Wajid Zia, a witness, himself conceded a lack of evidence to substantiate ownership claims."The NAB document fails to establish anything. Conjectures do not warrant punishment," he remarked.
The verdict marks a potentially turning point in Nawaz Sharif's legal battles, clearing the final remnant of the Panamagate cloud that had loomed over his attempts to reassert his political standing.
It is pertinent to note that the PML-N supremo’s disqualification from holding public office persists as decreed by the Supreme Court in the aftermath of the Panama Papers case.
Furthermore, in a subsequent ruling that interpreted Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution, which pertains to honesty and trustworthiness, the apex court confirmed that this disqualification is perpetual, barring him from public office for life.
However, earlier this year, amendments were introduced to the Elections Act, of 2017, reducing the disqualification period for lawmakers to a maximum of five years, applying retroactively.
For Nawaz to be eligible to participate in the upcoming elections slated for February 8, 2024, the removal of a lifelong ban on holding any public office is imperative.
Nonetheless, the party believes the eligibility battle is over, making his path to PM Office all but clear and smooth.
‘Vindicated once again'
After the verdict, PML-N supporters celebrated outside the court premises by distributing sweets, accompanied by chants in support of Nawaz Sharif.
Expressing gratitude, the PML-N leader thanked the divine.PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif said his brother had been “vindicated once again”.
“The sham cases created to disqualify a sitting prime minister are finally meeting their fate,” he said in a post on X.“The seven years wasted were not just a personal loss but a loss of development and prosperity of Pakistan,” he said.
He said he was optimistic that the country would prosper once again under Nawaz’s leadership.PML-N’s Marriyum Aurangzeb said that Nawaz had been “acquitted in all cases”.
“The reality of these fake and false cases has been exposed before the public,” she said in a post on X. “God Willing, Nawaz will become premier for a fourth time with the people’s vote,” she said.
She posted videos capturing a smiling Nawaz receiving congratulations from lawyers within the courtroom.
Khawaja Asif said that Nawaz had entrusted his affairs to God and has been eventually vindicated. However, he regretted that the challenges and trials faced by the PML-N leader over the years could never be fully compensated.
In a post on X, the PML-N leader said the nation would have to decide on election day who would answer for the “destruction wrought” over the past few years and called on the people to come and vote for Nawaz.
Read: IHC to decide Al-Azizia case ‘on merit’
‘No evidence’
At the outset of the hearing, Nawaz's counsel took to the rostrum and said he wanted to argue about Nawaz's dependants.
When Justice Farooq informed him that his arguments had been concluded, Pervaiz stated that he only wanted to argue on this single point.
The bench then inquired if NAB had proven anything regarding Nawaz's dependents. The counsel said that Wajid Zia, a witness, had admitted that there was no evidence connected to the PML-N leader's dependants.
He added that several verdicts are available on the definition of benami cases and said the defence had also raised objections in front of the trial court.
He maintained that no single application proved Nawaz was the owner of these assets. He also reminded the court that the trial court had relied on a TV interview of Nawaz's son, Hussain Nawaz, even though he stated that the "matter did not concern Nawaz".
The counsel highlighted that the accountability court's basis rested on Hussain Nawaz's miscellaneous petition, submitted to the SC, which does not conclusively establish Nawaz's ownership of these assets.
Emphasizing a critical point, he mentioned that the relied-upon plea wasn't even included in the official record.
He further clarified that the prosecution's responsibility was to substantiate several key elements including demonstrating Nawaz Sharif's public office tenure when the assets were amassed, providing evidence of the assets' income and value, and proving the creation of any benami properties under whose custody these assets were held.
The absence of substantial evidence regarding these crucial aspects, he argued, fails to establish a case of assets exceeding the declared income.
Stating that the accused is innocent until proven guilty and the onus lies on the prosecution to prove the charges. "The accused can not be forced to prove his innocence," said Pervaiz.
He reiterated that the prosecution team could not "present a single piece of evidence, therefore the burden of proof can not be transferred onto the accused," he said concluding his arguments.
The NAB prosecutor then took the rostrum and started by narrating the sequence of events which led to Nawaz's conviction.
Earlier, strict security arrangements were made in and around the court premises and a heavy contingent of police was deployed. A large number of pro-PML-N lawyers were also present within the court premises while a large crowd of the party's supporters were present outside the IHC premises.
Islamabad Accountability Court-II judge Arshad Malik on December 24, 2018, convicted Nawaz in the Al-Azizia case, sentencing him to seven years in prison while imposing on him a fine of $2.5 million.
The same judge had acquitted the former PM in the Flagship case. The accountability judge had, however, become controversial after the emergence of videos in July 2019 in which he could be seen allegedly confessing to a PML-N leader that he convicted Nawaz “under duress.”
The apex court bench, hearing petitions filed in the wake of the video scandal, had in August 2019 ordered action against Malik and a disciplinary committee of the Lahore High Court (LHC) had in July 2020 sacked the judge in view of misconduct.
However, interestingly, Nawaz’s counsels, who had earlier filed civil miscellaneous applications in the IHC seeking acquittal of the PML-N leader in the Al-Azizia case in view of the video scandal, announced that Nawaz did not want to press his application due to Malik’s demise.
On November 29, the same bench acquitted Nawaz in the Avenfield corruption reference, a case in which Nawaz Sharif was convicted by an accountability court in July 2018. The court had also accepted NAB’s request to withdraw its appeal against the accountability court’s order to acquit Nawaz in the Flagship reference.
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