Islamabad: After two dismissals by the registrar of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), lawyers for former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif finally succeeded on Saturday in getting his appeal against the Accountability Court verdict listed for a hearing Monday.

On January 3, the Registrar’s Office of the High Court had raised objections over the appeal, which were removed on Saturday.

Sharif has challenged his conviction in the Al Azizia/Hill Metal Establishment reference in the High Court, saying the Accountability Court’s verdict in the case was flawed with a number of legal shortcomings.

On December 24, 2018 the Accountability Court had handed a seven-year rigorous imprisonment to Sharif along with a fine of Rs1.5 billion (Dh40 million) and $25 million (Dh91.8 million) in the Al Azizia Steel Mills/Hill Metal Establishment reference.

It had, however, acquitted him in the Flagship Investment reference case.

The appeal submitted by Munawar Iqbal Duggal Advocate has prayed to the IHC to suspend the AC’s Dec 24 judgement and grant bail to former premier.

In the appeal, drafted by the lead counsel and head of Sharif’s legal team Khawaja Haris Ahmad, it is submitted that there are ‘extraneous’ factors that usually the accountability judge never considered while imparting judgements in routine cases.

The appeal has pointed out Paragraph 13 of the judgement and contended that “The learned trial judge has proceeded to pass generalised and sweeping remarks lamenting about rampant increase in corruption in the society”.

In the appeal it is further submitted that the socialist and class divisive observations made by the trial judge in Paragraph 14 of the judgement were extraneous to the record of the case.

“Such an observation indicates an inevitable pre-disposition of the mind of the learnt judge in harbouring an inherent bias towards the more affluent people of the society,” it adds.

Meanwhile the country’s premier anti-graft body, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), has decided to challenge Sharif’s acquittal in the Flagship Reference.

The NAB chairman had given a go ahead to the legal team to file appeal against the Accountability Court’s decision.

The NAB has also challenged the sentence, requesting the Court to extend the jail term given to Sharif. After admittance of the appeal by the Islamabad High Court’s registrar, the chief justice of the IHC Justice Athar Minallah fixed Monday, January 7 as the date for the hearing of former PM’s plea for suspension of his sentence in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference.

Minallah himself will be heading the two-member division bench. The other member of the bench is Justice Aamir Farooq.