Rawalpindi: (Staff Reporter) The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided not to challenge the acquittal of PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and her husband Retired Captain Safdar in the Avenfield graft case. NAB Rawalpindi Director-General Farmanullah has approved the decision not to move court against their acquittal. A written order has also been issued by the anti-graft watchdog.
According to the sources, in September last, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) annulled sentences awarded by an accountability court to Maryam Nawaz and her husband in the corruption case. During the hearing Justice Amir Farooq had remarked that an assets beyond means case could not be made against the PMLN vice president by the NAB since she was not a public office-holder. He said the NAB had failed to prove the Avenfield case against the PMLN leaders, and the court acquitted the PMLN leader and her husband of the charges.
As per details in July 2018, the accountability court had sentenced Maryam to 7 years in prison and imposed a fine of two million pounds on her. Safdar was sentenced to one year in prison. The couple was later released on bail after which they challenged their sentence in the IHC. PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif had been sentenced to 10 years in prison in the Avenfield reference case.
