ISLAMABAD, Jan 09 (INP): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday ordered to hear an appeal filed by former premier Nawaz Sharif, seeking bail and suspension of his sentence in the Al-Azizia reference case, within 10 days.

Reportedly, a two-member bench of the court issued directives to its Registrar Office to fix the hearing of the appeal.

The plea stated that "transparent trial is the right of every Pakistani national, and it is requested that the writ petition be fixed at an early date.”

Earlier, Nawaz Sharif had asked the court to suspend his sentence and release him on bail in Al-Azizia reference case till the high court decides on his plea against the verdict.

However, the court remarked that the writ petition filed by Nawaz Sharif requesting bail in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case, will be heard along with his first appeal challenging the court verdict in the case.

In the appeal, he has claimed that the accountability court’s judgement was based on ‘misunderstanding’ and ‘misinterpretation of the law’, and the evidences were addressed inappropriately.

The accountability court on December 24 convicted Sharif in the Al-Azizia reference and sentenced him to seven years in prison, and acquitted him in the Flagship reference case filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Mega corruption scandal.