The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday put off appeals by Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Capt Mohammad Safdar against their conviction in the Avenfiled reference until after the elections.

The court was hearing seven separate appeals filed by the three convicts' lawyers ─ against the conviction, suspension of their sentences, and transfer of the pending two references against Sharif family members. Three appeals were filed on behalf of Nawaz, and two each on behalf of Maryam and Safdar.

The IHC bench, comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, observed that since the high court administration had not notified the division bench for next week, the appeals against the convictions of Nawaz, Maryam and retired Capt Safdar were adjourned until the last week of July.

Arguing before the IHC bench, lead defence counsel Khawaja Haris said that the accountability judge never mentioned the value of Avenfield properties at the time of purchase nor was an estimate given in the verdict.

The known sources of Sharif's income were also not mentioned in the verdict, he said.

Upon the court's query, Haris said the prosecution did not produce any record to establish Nawaz's ownership of Avenfield apartments.

Regarding trust deeds, Amjad Pervaiz — the counsel for Maryam and Safdar — said that the court passed a verdict against Maryam Nawaz for preparing forged trust deeds on the basis of the opinion of forensic expert Robert Radley.

Radley said that the deeds were not genuine for being written in Calibri font in Feb 2006 when it was not commercially available — yet, the expert himself was using the font in 2005, the lawyer argued.

Regarding Capt Safdar, Pervaiz argued that in the 174-page judgment, the judge mentioned Safdar only once, that too for awarding him one-year imprisonment.

The court summoned the investigation officer in Avenfield reference and also issued a notice to the prosecution to appear in the next hearing.

Transfer of pending trials

Regarding the transfer of references, Haris argued that in the Avenfield reference judgement, Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir discarded the money trail based on sale proceeds of Gulf Steel Mills. He said that since the pending references are also based on the same money trail, the judge may discard the trail again.

When informed about judge Bashir writing a letter to recuse himself from the remaining two references, Justice Kayani remarked that the matter would be dealt administratively.

The court adjourned the hearing on the petitions seeking transfer of Al Azizia and Flagship references from the court of judge Bashir to another accountability court until July 30.

On July 6, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to 10 years in prison for holding assets beyond known sources of income. His daughter, Maryam, was handed a seven-year sentence for aiding and abetting him while her husband, Safdar, was sentenced to a year's imprisonment.

The sentence was given in Avenfield properties reference — one of the three references filed on the orders of the Supreme Court in Panamagate verdict.

Nawaz and Maryam, who were in London with an ailing Kulsoom Nawaz, returned last week to serve their sentence. They were arrested from the airport and shifted to Adiala jail upon their arrival in Lahore.