Islamabad: A Pakistani anti-corruption court has ruled that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was politically victimised in a corruption case in 1986, a judgement welcomed by his party Thursday as an endorsement of his innocence.
The accountability court in Lahore issued the detailed verdict Thursday acquitting Nawaz Sharif, the supremo of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in a case of alleged illegal allotment of plots in Punjab province 37 years ago.
Last month, the accountability court had acquitted 73-year-old Nawaz Sharif in the case which alleged that he transferred a “precious state land” in Lahore to one of the country’s leading media barons as a “bribe”.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had alleged that Jang Group owner Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman had illegally obtained exemption of 54 plots of land in connivance with Nawaz Sharif who was then chief minister of Punjab province.
The case was filed in 2020 when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was in power and then Prime Minister Imran Khan was trying to crush opposition by levelling charges of corruption against them.
“The record reflects that the accused Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had become the victim of political victimisation, and perhaps the (NAB) authorities were constrained to prepare the reference at the behest of the then-ruling junta to damage and destroy the political carrier [sic] and goodwill of the accused who had been three times elected prime minister of Pakistan,” Judge Rao Abdul Jabbar wrote in the detailed judgement.
The judgement showed that the proper procedure for declaring Sharif a proclaimed offender had not been followed and hence the decision was “not in line with the parameters settled and followed by the apex court”.
The judge also directed the NAB and revenue authorities to release the properties of Nawaz and the applicants in the case.
It went on to say that the former premier was entitled to the same relief as the principled accused, Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman, in the case, “having a lesser role and on a better legal footing as compared to the acquitted co-accused”.
Pakistan Muslims League-Nawaz (PML-N) hailed the judgment as a vindication of Nawaz’s innocence and proof of his political victimisation.
“The verdict shows that he (Nawaz) was victimised by his opponents and all cases against him were based on fake charges,” Marryium Aurangzeb, PML-N spokesperson, said at a press conference.
Nawaz Sharif’s acquittal came after the federal government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, his younger brother, made crucial amendments to laws to lift the life-long ban on politicians.
Rehman had to spend several weeks in jail in the case before being acquitted in January 2022 while the three-time former premier avoided the fate as he was out of the country and was declared a proclaimed offender.
Nawaz Sharif was disqualified in 2017 by the Supreme Court. In 2018, he became ineligible to hold public office for life after a Supreme Court verdict in the Panama Papers case.
The PML-N supreme leader has been living in self-exile in the United Kingdom since November 2019.
Before his departure to London on a four-wheel bail by the Lahore High Court on medical grounds, Nawaz Sharif was serving a seven-year jail term in the Al-Azizia Mills corruption case.
PTI
