Nawaz Sharif secures protective bail in Avenfield and Al-Azizia references till Oct 24

Nawaz Sharif has secured protective bail in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references till Oct 24!

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo had approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for bail in Al-Azizia and Avenfield references which approved the pleas, granting bail till October 24.

The IHC on Thursday announced the verdict, restraining the authorities from arresting Nawaz Sharif on his return to the country on Saturday (October 21).

The IHC said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) did not raise any objections to the protective bail sought by the PML-N supremo in corruption cases.

A two-member IHC bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the Nawaz’s bail petitions.

Nawaz Sharif’s counsels, including former law minister Azam Nazir Tarar and Amjad Pervaiz, appeared before the court.

While NAB prosecutors Rana Maqsood, Qureshi, and Naeem Sanghera were also present.

The development comes before the former prime minister’s impending arrival in Lahore on Oct 21.

Nawaz Sharif’s planned return to Pakistan would be after more than four years of self-imposed exile.

Earlier, an accountability court also suspended the arrest warrant issued against him in the Toshakhana case.

ML-N President and former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the IHC decision.

Reacting to the verdict, he wrote on X,” “The elected Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, was disqualified based on a fictitious and fabricated story. He was implicated in absurd cases and subjected to mistreatment.”

“Any fair hearing would have established his innocence. Bail is a fundamental right, and we welcome the IHC decision in this regard, hoping that justice will prevail, InshaAllah,” Shehbaz Sharif added.