Relief for Nawaz Sharif, IHC acquits Pakistan's ex-PM in Avenfield reference

In a relief for Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistan’s former prime minister has been acquitted Wednesday by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the Avenfield reference. In July 2018, an accountability court had handed over Nawaz Sharif 10 years in jail in the Avenfield properties corruption reference for owning assets beyond known income and one year for not cooperating with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), both of which were to be served concurrently. The Avenfield reference pertains to the purchase of four flats in Avenfield House, Park Lane, London. It was among the three cases filed by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against PML-N leader and his children on the orders of the Supreme Court in its landmark Panamagate verdict. The proceeding in the Avenfield reference started in September 2017 and an accountability court had indicted Nawaz, Maryam Nawaz and Captain Safdar on 19 October, 2017. According to the report submitted by the joint investigation team in the Panamagate case, the Sharifs had given contradictory statements about their London flats and found that the flats actually belonged to them since 1993. It said Nawaz had distanced himself from the apartments and could not explain the time frame and procedure adopted for obtaining the possession of Avenfield apartments by his sons and was even uncertain about which son claimed the ownership of the flats now. In July 2018, an accountability court had handed Nawaz 10 years as jail time for owning assets beyond known income and one year for not cooperating with NAB in the case, as well as a fine of £8m. In 2022, the IHC had acquitted Maryam and her spouse retired Capt Safdar of the charges levelled in the Aven­field apartments reference and set aside an accountability court’s July 2018 verdict.