Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Thursday rejected ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif's appeal to the Supreme Court (SC) seeking the clubbing together of three corruption references against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Sharif had earlier petitioned the apex court regarding the same matter, but the petition was rejected by the SC registrar.

The former PM subsequently appealed against the registrar's decision, saying that filing three separate references was "illegal, and violates the law and the Constitution, besides being violative of his [Sharif's] fundamental rights".

During today's hearing — which was held in the CJP's chamber — Sharif's lawyer once again argued for consolidation of the three corruption references, saying that the charges levelled against the Sharifs were common in all three references. The references relate to different assets but all three name the same persons as accused.

He said the accountability court only had the authority to continue with the proceedings after merging the references, adding that under the law, an accused could not be punished for the same crime multiple times.

Justice Nisar upheld the registrar's decision and refused to order NAB to club the references together.