Nawaz Sharif gets another reprieve

RAWALPINDI - A divisional bench of Lahore High Court here Friday set aside the conviction of former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif in the Helicopter Reference Case.
In its brief verdict, the bench comprising Justice Tariq Shamim and Justice Malik Saeed Ijaz also accepted an application of PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif for condonation of time limit to appeal against his conviction by the court of National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
In his appeal, Nawaz had challenged his sentence of 14 years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50 million announced by Accountability Court Judge Farrukh Latif on July 22 calling the trial unjust, mock and hasty.
Earlier, the Special Prosecutor from NAB Abdul Basir Qureshi continued his arguments and said that the appeal against the conviction was willingly delayed by Nawaz Sharif and was not acceptable because he did not have trust in the courts and, therefore, did not submit the appeal. He added that Nawaz was given sufficient time to defend the case but he tried to conceal the facts and ownership of the helicopter.
Khawaja Haris, Advocate for Nawaz Sharif, in his final arguments told the bench that Nawaz Sharif had never been involved in the purchase of helicopter, even he used rented helicopter for his election campaign and the party paid its expenditures.
Earlier, Nawaz Sharifs counsel appeared in the court to pursue the application under section 561-A (saving the inherent power of high court) filed by his client. The applicant had sought relaxation of legal restraints in taking up his appeal against the sentence awarded by an accountability court in Attock Fort in July 2000. In the application, Nawaz whose appeal was delayed some eight year and 260 days had said that according to NAB Ordinance 1999, a convict could appeal in 10 days that was against the limit provide under section 5 of Limitation Act 1908.
The applicant said during and after the trial in Attock, he remained under intense physical and psychological pressure and could not approach the higher courts that had taken allegiance with the military dictator. Within days after the conviction by the court in the case of purchasing MI-8 Russian helicopter, the applicant said, he along with his family was forced to sign an agreement about leaving the country, leaving no time for him to appeal against the conviction. At the time of signing the agreement, he was told that the then president of Pakistan under article 45 of the Constitution had washed away his conviction and sentence.
Nawaz said he was not allowed to return and when he returned, the higher judiciary was under the influence of the same dictator making it impossible for him to file the appeal. Praying to the court to condone the time limitation, the applicant said the waiver would not infringe on the fundamental rights of an individual and time limitation could not become hurdle in dispensation of justice according to the judgements of the superior courts.