Pak court says no for publishing proclamation against Sharif in 2 UK newspapers

It said that a copy “shall be affixed at some conspicuous part of this court-house” and another copy “shall be produced before this court on the next date of hearing i.e. November 24, 2020, with reports received on the proclamation, proceedings conducted and for statement regarding the subject matter”. Days before the July 2018 general elections, Sharif was convicted in the Avenfield properties case and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

A court in Pakistan on Monday rejected a petition by the federal government seeking the publication of proclamation against deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif in two newspapers in the UK. Additional Attorney General Tariq Mehmood Khokhar submitted a compliance report relating to the publication of proclamation issued in Al-Azizia and Avenfield properties cases against Sharif in Dawn and Jang newspapers.

He argued that since 70-year-old Sharif is in England, the proclamation may be published in The Guardian and Daily Telegraph. A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani heard the petition on Monday, Dawn news reported.

The paper reported that the court turned down the request with an observation that since the legal requirements of issuance of proclamation had been fulfilled, there was no need to publish the same in British newspapers. Meanwhile, the IHC registrar office wrote a letter to the foreign secretary, asking him to execute/display the proclamation in the vicinity of Sharif's residence in London through the Pakistani High Commission in the UK.

According to the letter, the proclamation "shall be read out at some conspicuous place of the town in which Nawaz Sharif ordinarily resides in the UK. One copy shall be affixed at some conspicuous part of the residence in which Sharif ordinarily resides in the UK". It said that a copy "shall be affixed at some conspicuous part of this court-house" and another copy "shall be produced before this court on the next date of hearing i.e. November 24, 2020, with reports received on the proclamation, proceedings conducted and for statement regarding the subject matter".

Days before the July 2018 general elections, Sharif was convicted in the Avenfield properties case and sentenced to 10 years in prison. His daughter Maryam was sentenced to seven years in prison for abetment and his son-in-law Captain (retd) Mohammad Safdar to one year. In December 2018, anti-corruption court judge Arshad Malik convicted Sharif in Al-Azizia Steel Mills case and sentenced him to seven years in prison. Judge Malik was later dismissed from service over misconduct.

The IHC later granted bail to Sharif, Maryam and Safdar. Sharif, after his conviction in the Al-Azizia case, was sent to jail but released for eight weeks on medical grounds. The bail-granting order lapsed while the former premier was in London. The IHC had in September fixed the appeals against conviction of Sharif in Al-Azizia and Avenfield cases. After hearing the pleas, the court rejected Sharif's applications seeking hearing in absentia and issued his non-bailable arrest warrants.

The court then issued his proclamation giving the former premier final opportunity to join the proceeding before confiscating his properties. Separately, an accountability court in Islamabad has already confiscated movable and immovable properties of Sharif because he absconded in the Toshakhana case, which is about alleged corruption in purchase of vehicles.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)