ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday hearing petitions challenging the Avenfield verdict against former PM Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar overturned jail terms of the Sharif family.
The decision was announced by a two-judge bench comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb while hearing the petitions.
Justice Minallah issued orders to release Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Cap Safdar while reading out the judgment.
The court ordered the Sharif family to submit surety bonds worth Rs500,000 each.
Earlier, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor Akram Qureshi completed his arguments.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the bench had directed Qureshi to conclude his arguments within 30 minutes and said that a verdict will be announced today even if arguments are not concluded.
After the NAB prosecutor concluded his arguments, Nawaz’s counsel, Khawaja Harris, presented brief arguments following which the court reserved its judgment.
A large number of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders, including Shehbaz Sharif, Pervaiz Rashid and Khurram Dastgir, were are present in the courtroom for the hearing.
Speaking to the media outside the court after the verdict, PML-N leaders including Ahsan Iqbal and Khawaj Asif welcomed the judgement.
