IHC refuses Sharif’s bail plea

Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday returned the plea filed by convicted former premier Nawaz Sharif. The former prime minister has contested the verdict of a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court in Al-Azizya corruption reference.  As per reports, the IHC registrar showed reservations and returned the appeal and declared it as incomplete. The registrar office further directed that the plea be filed after addressing the reservations. A day earlier, incarcerated former prime minister challenged his conviction in Al-Azizia reference in the IHC. Sharif’s lawyer, Khawaja Haris, filed an appeal in the high court, requesting it to set aside his client’s conviction in the graft case filed against him and members of his family by the NAB in pursuance of the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict. He also moved a separate petition seeking release of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) supremo on bail until the court decides the aforesaid appeal. Haris argued in the appeal that every Pakistani had right to fair trial. The accountability court didn’t take into account his contention while deciding the case, he claimed. He said his client expected to get justice from the high court. On December 24, an accountability court handed seven years’ imprisonment to the three-time prime minister and asked him to pay $25 million and Rs1.5 billion as penalties in the Al-Azizia reference.