PLEA AGAINST SHARIFS’ JAIL TERMS

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Saturday admitted a plea which challenges the jail sentence of ousted Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam, and sonin-law Mohammad Safdar in the Avenfield properties corruption case.

LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Yawar Ali formed a full bench to hear the petition of Advocate A K Dogar, who remains counsel for both Sharif and Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

Dogar has sought revocation of the punishment handed down to the Sharif family by an accountability court last month in the Avenfield case.

Justice Ali constituted a three-member bench comprising Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza, Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi and Justice Mujahid Mustaqeem to hear Dogar's petition on August 8.

The accountability court in Islamabad on July 6 had sentenced Sharif to 10 years in prison with a USD 10.5 mil- lion fine over corruption charges related to his family's purchase of overseas properties.

Maryam, widely seen as Sharif's anointed political heir, was also found guilty and handed down seven years in prison with a USD 2.6 million fine. Her husband Safdar also received a one-year jail sentence. All three are serving their terms at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

Dogar in his petition said that the accountability court handed down sentences to the Sharif family members under the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 which is illegal.

"This ordinance was promulgated by military dictator former president Gen Pervez Musharraf under Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO). The Sharif family members and others' conviction under this ordinance is illegal. After the 18th amendment, this law does not exist any more. Punishment was handed down to the Sharif family members under the dead law," he said and pleaded that the high court suspend the accountability court's verdict against the Sharifs.