Accountability Court Judge Arshad Malik on December 24 handed Sharif seven years in jail and a fine of Rs 1.5 billion and US $ 25 million in Al-Aziza reference, and acquitted him in the Flagship reference.
The top anti-graft body in its petitions filed in Islamabad High Court (IHC) asserted that it had provided a great deal of evidence against the PML-N supremo in Flagship reference, and that giving Sharif the benefit of the doubt was against the law. It contended that IHC should issue a verdict against Sharif on the basis of evidence.
In its appeal against the Al-Azizia verdict, the anti-graft body argued that a seven-year jail sentence for Sharif in the case was too little and it should be increased. It stated that the punishment for corruption under Section 9(a) (v) of the National Accountability Ordinance is 14 years in jail. The NAB made Nawaz Sharif as party in both the appeals.
Sharif had on Tuesday challenged his conviction in the Al-Azizia reference in the IHC, claiming that the accountability court's verdict in the case is marred with flaws and legal lacunae. The appeal pointed out certain 'extraneous' factors which, it said, an accountability judge never considered while imparting judgments in routine cases. The former prime minister, who is currently serving a jail sentence, also filed an application seeking suspension of the sentence.