Al-Azizia hearing adjourned over Kulsoom Nawaz’s death

• Judge remarks Begum Kulsoom was a national figure

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of Al-Azizia corruption reference till Thursday on account of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz’s death.

At the outset of the hearing, Khawaja Haris, defence counsel, informed the court that Nawaz Sharif was in Lahore on parole to attend the funeral prayer of his wife late Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, adding he had not been instructed how to proceed without his client.

At this, Judge Arshad Malik remarked that Begum Kulsoom was a national figure and it was not appropriate to continue with the proceedings.

On Tuesday, the accountability court hearing the Al-Azizia reference against Nawaz Sharif had rejected a postponement plea by the defence counsel. As the hearing went underway, the NAB judge had noted that the Supreme Court had ordered the references to be closed in six weeks, thus refusing the postponement of the case.

The legal assistant of defence counsel Sher Afghan Asadi had apprised the court that Nawaz’s lawyer Khawaja Haris was unable to attend the hearing as he was attending the Islamabad High Court (IHC) hearing of the petitions pertaining to suspension of the Avenfield verdict.

“The IHC has fixed Tuesday and Wednesday for the case’s hearing,” Asadi had informed the court, adding that Haris couldn’t appear before the accountability court as he was busy with preparing arguments for the IHC hearings.