ISLAMABAD: The Islam­abad High Court (IHC) on Thursday exempted Mar­yam Nawaz, the vice president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), from personal appearance since she is suffering from Covid-19.

An IHC division bench gave the ruling after it resumed hearing of appeals filed by Maryam Nawaz and retired Capt Mohammad Safdar against their conviction in the Avenfield apartment reference. The bench comprised Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani.

At the outset, a junior counsel appeared before the court and submitted Maryam Nawaz’s application seeking exemption from personal appearance since she had caught the coronavirus disease.

Her application was supported by a medical certificate.

The court accepted the exemption plea, but adjour­ned the matter to Aug 4.

The junior counsel reque­s­ted the court to hear the case on a date other than Aug 4 or 5 since senior counsel Amjad Pervaiz was scheduled to appear before the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Multan registry on those days.

“As this is a part-heard matter, we cannot fix it for another date,” responded Justice Farooq.

Just as the bench was about to rise, Barrister Zaffarullah Khan asked the court’s reader to mark his attendance as counsel.

Talking to Dawn, Barrister Khan said he had been asked to join the legal team of Maryam Nawaz.

He said he had represented Ms Nawaz during the hearing of her appeal in the Avenfield apartment reference.

An accountability court had convicted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Mohammad Safdar in the Avenfield reference on July 6, 2018. The three were granted bail in September that year and have been on bail since then.

Mr Sharif was later arrested in Al Azizia reference after his conviction in that case, but got bail on medical grounds.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2021