ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday suspended the sentences of former premier Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Capt. (retired) Safdar Awan, two months after they had begun their jail terms over corruption.
The ruling comes just a week after Nawaz and Maryam were released on parole to attend the funeral of Kulsoom Nawaz – Nawaz’s wife and Maryam’s mother -- in Lahore. Kulsoom died on September 11, in London, after succumbing to a long battle with cancer.
Ordering their release on bail, after the payment of $4,057 each as bonds, the IHC said that the sentences would remain suspended till a final judgment was passed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court.
A division bench of the IHC, comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, handed down the judgment after Nawaz, Maryam and Safdar filed a petition challenging the verdict lodged against them in the Avenfield corruption case.
Details of the verdict were to be shared later in the day, even as the NAB said that it would challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.
On July 6, an Islamabad accountability court had sentenced Nawaz, Maryam and Awan to 11, eight and one year respectively. They were charged for graft in the Avenfield properties case filed by NAB on the directives of the apex court.
On Wednesday, in anticipation of the verdict, the courtroom was packed to its capacity. A large number of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers and senior party leaders, including Nawaz’s younger brother Shehbaz Sharif and a coterie of other officials, were present during the hearing, celebrating the verdict as soon as it was passed.
“The court’s verdict has vindicated Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz of all corruption charges,” PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said while talking to media persons outside the courtroom.
He termed the judgment as “very important”, adding that it would help the common man understand that Nawaz and his family were framed under “false cases”. “These cases were based on revenge … and ensure pre-poll rigging in the elections to install Imran Khan as the prime minister,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, PML-N senior leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif termed the judgment as a “victory of justice”. “They will be vindicated in the remaining cases too,” he said.
Two other cases, accusing Nawaz of corruption, are awaiting a judicial decision in an Islamabad accountability court, with hearings for the same taking place on a daily basis.
Political analysts said that while the verdict is a relief for the Sharif family, they would not be able to score any political mileage immediately as corruption references are still pending against them.
Professor Tahir Malik, an academic and a political analyst, said that Nawaz and Maryam may also try to make the verdict work in their favor. “Suspension of sentences does not mean you are absolved of the charges. [The] Sharifs still have to fight a long legal battle to return as a formidable force in politics again,” he told Arab News.
The Sharifs have often alleged that these cases were politically-motivated and aimed at destabilizing their government and eventually removing them from power. PML-N was voted out of office in the general elections held in the country in July.
