Punjab Interim Govt Suspends Nawaz Sharif’s Sentence In Al-Azizia Case

Lahore: The caretaker provincial government of Punjab has suspended the sentence of Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo, Nawaz Sharif, in the Al-Azizia Still Mills graft case, Pakistan’s Geo News reported on Tuesday.

Caretaker information minister Aamir Mir confirmed that the the decision was taken by the Punjab cabinet by exercising its constitutional powers under Section 401 of the criminal procedural code (CPC), which also authorises it to pardon any offender.

He further said that ML-N supremo had requested the cabinet for his sentence to be suspended. “The final decision of the case will be taken by the court itself,” he added.

The report added that the development comes on the day when Sharif is scheduled to attend multiple hearings at an accountability court at the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC) and the Islamabad high court (IHC).

Earlier in June, a Pakistani court had acquitted Sharif in a 37-year-old case in which he was accused of transferring a “precious state land” to one of the country’s leading media house owner as a “bribe”. The court ruling followed some made crucial amendments to laws to lift the life-long ban on politicians by the federal government led by prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif. He had become ineligible to hold public office for life after a Supreme Court verdict in the Panama Papers case in 2018.

Notably, the 3-time PM returned to Pakistan on October 21 after four years of self-imposed exile in London to kick-start his party’s campaign ahead of parliamentary elections due in January 2024.

In July 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail in the Avenfield properties related to purchase of four luxury flats in London through corrupt practices along with a fine of 8 million Euros (Pakistani Rupees 1.3 billion). The former PM was convicted in absentia as he was in London at that time to look after his ailing wife.

Sharif was convicted in the Al-Azizia case by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court in December 2018. Following the judgement, he was taken into custody from the courtroom.

In 2019, a Pakistani court allowed Sharif to travel to London for medical treatment while he was serving a seven-year sentence on the condition that he would return within four weeks to complete his prison term. He defied that agreement and was declared a fugitive.