The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday declared its intention to thoroughly examine Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif's appeal against his conviction in the Al-Azizia reference.

The two-member bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb, presided over the hearing, which also involved the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) plea for an extension of Sharif's sentence issued in June 2018.

The capital's high court had previously accepted applications for the revival of Sharif's appeals related to the Avenfield and Al-Azizia corruption references last month.

A "hearing on the merits" means the court will decide the case based on the actual facts and laws, not on technicalities or procedural errors. It's like saying they'll judge the case "fair and square."

However, the high court dismissed NAB's request to refer the case back to the accountability court and nullify Nawaz's conviction in the matter.

Nawaz's conviction dates back to December 24, 2018, when an accountability court sentenced the former prime minister to seven years of rigorous imprisonment in the Al-Azizia reference, one of the three corruption cases filed by NAB following the Supreme Court's (SC) directive.

The SC had disqualified Sharif on July 28, 2017, in the Panama Papers case, instructing NAB to file separate cases, including Avenfield, Al-Azizia, and Flagship references.

While Sharif and his family had already been convicted in the Avenfield case, the accountability court judge (late) Muhammad Arshad Malik acquitted Sharif in the Flagship reference.

In the Al-Azizia case, the judge found Sharif guilty of corruption and corrupt practices, leading to a seven-year prison sentence along with a fine of Rs1.2 billion and $25 million, as stated in the verdict.