ISLAMABAD: Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif has challenged the rejection of a petition to transfer the Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Flagship Investment Limited references in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday.

Last week, the Sharif family had filed a petition to move the two corruption references out of Accountability Court-I’s Judge Muhammad Bashir. Remarking that only the high court held the mandate to transfer the case, Judge Bashir had rejected the transfer petition.

In the appeal filed in the high court, Nawaz’s legal counsels maintained that since Judge Bashir had already decided on the Avenfield properties case, the remaining corruption references should be transferred to another accountability court.

Nawaz’s lawyers further stated that a verdict on the report prepared by the Panama Papers joint investigation team (JIT) report and Gulf Steel Mills had already been announced and these two matters were common in the pending references.

On July 6, Nawaz was sentenced to a total of 11 years in prison and slapped a £8 million fine (Rs1.3 billion) in the Avenfield properties corruption reference while Maryam was sentenced to eight years with a £2 million fine (Rs335 million). Additionally, Capt (retd) Safdar was given a one-year sentence without any fine.

After the court’s verdict, the remaining cases pertain to the Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment, and offshore companies including Flagship Investment Limited.