Pakistan ex-PM Nawaz Sharif acquitted in corruption cases ahead of general elections

Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was acquitted in two corruption charges on Wednesday (Nov 29), providing a major relief to the leader ahead who is seeking to run for the top post in next year’s general elections.

The 73-year-old chief of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party had filed pleas in the Islamabad High Court, challenging his conviction in the Avenfield property and Al-Azizia cases.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb pronounced the verdict, overturning Nawaz’s conviction.

The proceedings went around for at least two hours before the judges announced the verdict.

Nawaz thanks God for positive verdict 

Talking to journalists outside the court after his major legal victory, Nawaz — a three-time prime minister eyeing his fourth term in next year’s general elections — said, “I had left it up to Allah. In Al-Azizia [Steel Mills corruption reference] also, I’ve also left my matters up to Allah,” reports Geo News.

Separately, in a post on X, Maryam Nawaz, daughter of the ex-PM, that the verdict showed how “God vindicated those who put their unwavering trust in him”.

Last year, the IHC had acquitted Maryam and her spouse retired Capt Safdar of the charges levelled in the Avenfield apartments reference and set aside an accountability court’s July 2018 verdict.

Sharif was accused of keeping four flats of Avenfield House —an apartment block in Park Lane, London— through illegal sources.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB)—the anti-corruption watchdog—had accused the Sharifs of purchasing the flats with money over and above their known sources of income.

Ex-PM's downfall began in 2018

A trial court on July 6, 2018, sentenced Nawaz to 10 years in jail upon conviction along with a £8 million fine (approximately Rs1.3 billion), in the Avenfield corruption case.

An additional year of jail sentence was further added for not cooperating with NAB, both of them to be served concurrently.

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While serving the sentence in the Al-Azizia case, Nawaz was diagnosed with an immune system disorder and was allowed to travel abroad in 2019 for treatment as per doctors' advice.

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But he didn’t return and was subsequently declared a proclaimed offender in both cases in December 2020 by the IHC.

The former premiere came back last month after nearly four years of self-exile and his appeals were revived.