Nawaz’s travel abroad for treatment: LHC order vindicates govt stance: PM’s aide

ISLAMABAD: Lahore High Court’s (LHC) order for removing Nawaz Sharif’s name from no-fly list vindicated government’s stance, as the undertakings submitted by the Sharif brothers before the court of law had more value than indemnity bond sought by the government, said Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar and Attorney General Mansoor Khan at a joint press conference here on Sunday.

PM’s aide Akbar said as per law the name of a convict could not be removed from the Exit Control List (ECL), adding the LHC granted permission to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo to proceed abroad for medical treatment on humanitarian grounds. The LHC decision had reinforced the government’s stance over the issue,” he said.

He said the cabinet had decided to grant one-time permission to the former premier specifically for medical treatment, adding the permission was for four weeks. He said it was also decided that upon completion of his treatment Sharif would return to the country and face the cases against him. “His return would also be ensured.”

The PM’s aide alleged the Sharif family had a precedent of not returning to the country when allowed to go abroad. He said the amount of indemnity bond for Sharif was determined on the basis of sentences awarded to him in various cases and added the court had taken a written undertaking from them (Sharif family) instead of an indemnity bond. “Any violation of undertaking given by PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif to the LHC would constitute a criminal offence,” he said. Akbar said the court order would be discussed in the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Attorney General Mansoor Khan also stressed the LHC decision was purely based on humanitarian grounds and merits of the case were yet to be decided as no legal reason was given in the order.

He said it was an interim order, which did not reject the government’s stance as the case would be resumed for final decision to look into the merits of the case in January 2020. He said the undertaking before the court of law had more value than indemnity bond the government was asking for, adding: “If the signatories — Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif — did not fulfill their commitment to the courts then they could be tried under Contempt of Court Ordinance and Articles 61 and 62-B of the Constitution”.

He said after the written order of the court, the matter would be taken up by the cabinet which would decide whether it should file an appeal or not.