Nawaz is being victimised politically, the court rules

 

An accountability court in Lahore released the whole decision about the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's acquittal in a corruption case involving the alleged unauthorised allotment of properties in 1986 on Thursday.

According to the written order, the required steps were not taken when designating Nawaz as a proclaimed criminal in the relevant National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference.

It further stated that the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had experienced "political victimisation" as a result of this case, and it ordered the tax and anti-graft watchdogs to return any property that had been confiscated from Nawaz and the other petitioners in this case.

Applicants Nawaz and others in this case's properties.

In the aforementioned reference, which was filed in 2020 when the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was the federal government, Nawaz was charged with conspiring with Mir Shakilur Rahman, owner of the Jang Group, to illegally allocate land in Block-H, Johar Town, Lahore, in 1986. According to the reference, Rahman registered 54 one-kanal land plots unlawfully in violation of the law and the exemption policy in order to profit financially, and Nawaz, the then-chief minister of Punjab, assisted him in doing so.

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Due to his frequent failures to appear in court while the NAB pursued the issue, Nawaz had been designated a proclaimed offender in the case.

Nawaz was exonerated by an accountability court last month, which was stated in a

In the written order, Judge Rao Abdul Jabbar, who had earlier announced the verdict, stated that the former government forced the anti-graft watchdog to file this reference against Nawaz in order to destroy the future of the three-time prime minister.

Citing the example of a previous verdict, the written order further mentions that the proper procedure was not followed while declaring Nawaz a proclaimed offender.

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According to the written verdict, an individual could only be declared proclaimed offender if the court was satisfied regarding the execution of warrants and fulfillment of all other formalities.

“In this case, the record is silent regarding who issued the warrants, publications or documents containing the material to inform the accused to appear before the court of law. This is a mandatory condition, otherwise, the entire proceedings become void and illegal,” stated the verdict.

"If the accused had already left the country before any notice, summon, warrant, or proceedings were issued to appear before the court of law, then the entire proceedings become illegal and void ab-initio," it said.

The written ruling further noted that Nawaz is entitled to the same relief as given to the main offender in the case, Rehman, and ordered the release of any properties that had been confiscated in connection with the case.