ISLAMABAD: PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and her husband Capt Safdar filed an application in the Islamabad High Court on Wednesday seeking exemption from appearing for hearing petitions against their conviction in the Avenfield property reference. The couple has submitted the request following Maryam’s COVID-19 diagnosis.
A two-judge bench of IHC comprising Justice Amer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani will hear the matter. Earlier, the hearing was to be held by Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miyangul Hasan Aurangzeb to take final arguments from the respondents.
“I am suffering from coronavirus and cannot appear in court,” Maryam said in the application. She said she apologizes for her absence.
The IHC had fixed the hearing of Maryam’s appeal at the Avenfield Reference for today after the Eid holidays.
In the last hearing, Maryam Nawaz’s lawyer Amjad Parvez continued his arguments in the matter. The petitioners had challenged their conviction by the accountability court and objected to the merits of the case.
Maryam and Safdar were convicted by an accountability court in July 2018 in an even-fed corruption context. Maryam was sentenced to eight years in prison and a fine of £2 million, while Safdar was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.