Avenfield trust deed can’t be called forged, says Islamabad High Court

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday observed that the Avenfield trust deed involving Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz and her brother Hussain Nawaz can’t be called forged or fake.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani heard the appeals of Maryam Nawaz and her husband Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar against their conviction in the Avenfield properties reference.

The court observed that since both Maryam and Hussain never disowned the Avenfield trust deed, it could not be a forgery.

“The trust deed can be termed back-dated or that the font used in the said document was different, but this cannot be called forgery,” said Justice Farooq.

The IHC judge made the observation when the bench was informed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) that they had proved forgery in the trust deed. The IHC stated that a lack of evidence would result in a different verdict.

It mentioned that if the father made the property illegally and gave it to the son, would the daughter be found guilty? The court said that the petitioner should just prove that NAB could not prove the case, nothing else is required.

Maryam Nawaz’s counsel, Irfan Qadir, said that NAB did not complete the basic details of the case, the actual value, and source of the assets were not mentioned in advance. Also, it does not meet the requirements of Section 9-A of the NAB Ordinance. If the court wants, it can give bail to Maryam Nawaz.

NAB prosecutor Sardar Mazhar mentioned that Maryam Nawaz claimed to be the trustee of the property.

“NAB has proved through evidence that Maryam was their beneficial owner and forgery in the trust deed, which was confirmed by the trust deed deposited in the Supreme Court before the Joint Investigation Team (JIT).”

The court directed all the parties to look into the case papers and adjourned the hearing till February 17.