Court adjourns case against auction of Nawaz’s property

Two courts exempt PM Shehbaz from personal appearance in 3 references

An accountability court (AC) in Islamabad on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of an appeal filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz against the auction of property owned by her father and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

AC-III judge Syed Asghar Ali adjourned the case without any proceedings until April 27 on the request of the petitioner’s lawyer, Qazi Misbah. The lawyer had prayed the court to grant him time to take fresh instructions from his client in the case. The petitions were filed by Maryam Nawaz, Umair Razzaq and Rana Mushtaq.

On the other hand, two different accountability courts on Wednesday exempted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif from personal appearance for a day in three references. A legal team, on behalf of Shehbaz, filed the applications before the courts for his exemption from personal appearance for a day in view of his engagements. PML-N leader and the joint opposition’s nominee for the coveted office of Punjab chief minister, Hamza Shahbaz, also appeared in two references and got his attendance marked. The courts adjourned further hearing of the references until April 28.

Also, an accountability court deferred cross arguments until April 27 on the acquittal pleas of co-accused in a reference against ex-finance minister Ishaq Dar. AC-I judge Muhammad Bashir heard the case pertaining to a graft reference lodged by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The petitioners had challenged the NAB reference under amendments to the NAB ordinance.

The lawyer prayed the court to defer the cross arguments until the next date. On the other hand, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) adjourned until April 27 the hearing of PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal’s appeal seeking to dismiss the Narowal City Sports Complex reference. A division bench of Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Saman Raffat heard the case. Previously, an accountability court had dismissed the case of Ahsan Iqbal. At the outset of the hearing, the NAB requested the court to grant time for the submission of its comments. At this, the court adjourned the case until the next date.