Govt sent convicted Sharif out, his return is their responsibility: Sharif allowed out without court permission, says IHC

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday observed that it was the government that allowed convict Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to go abroad without informing it, hence it was the government’s responsibility to bring him back from the UK. The observation came during the hearing of Nawaz Sharif’s appeal against his sentence in Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Avenfield property references.

The bench comprised Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhter Kayani. "The federal government allowed a convicted criminal to go abroad," Justice Kayani observed. Justice Farooq remarked that the bench had not passed an order allowing Nawaz to go abroad and it was not informed that a convicted person had been permitted to go abroad.

He said it was the government that put Nawaz on the Exit Control List (ECL) and later removed him. "The government should have at least informed this court. We haveto make a decision on the appeal and we are waiting for the appearance of the convict," the judge said.

"Once inquiries begin, the names of the suspects are added to the ECL. Here, however, the court is not even informed, let alone sought permission from, about a convicted man being sent abroad. We will not pass an order seeking the return of a convicted man. You gave him permission to go abroad, hence it's now up to you to take steps to ensure his return.

"In Pakistan, a convicted man left the country and no one bothered to ask or tell the court," he judge said. The court observed that it would follow the legal procedure so that Nawaz Sharif could not express his ignorance about the matter.

Additional Attorney General Tariq Mehmood Khokhar said the Foreign Office immediately implemented the arrest warrants through the Pakistan High Commission in the UK on September 17.

The court was told that the warrant was received by Nawaz Sharif’s son Hassan Nawaz at his London residence. The warrant was dispatched to Nawaz’s house by the Pakistan High Commission through a mail. The NAB prayed the court to initiate process for declaring Nawaz Sharif an absconder, as one of his family members had received the warrant.

The Additional Attorney General (AAG) informed the bench that Hassan Nawaz had received the warrant sent through the Royal Mail Service. Justice Aamer Farooq remarked that it was clear that Nawaz was aware of court proceedings against him but the court would not move forward on the basis of verbal information only.

The AAG told the court that Pakistan's Consular Attaché in the United Kingdom Rao Abdul Hanan had visited Nawaz Sharif's address where a person Yaqoob refused to collect the court notice, which, was later on received by Hassan Nawaz.

He said the notice could also be sent to Nawaz Sharif through the county court. However, there were legal complexities due to non-existence of an agreement with the UK to bring the accused back to Pakistan, he added.

NAB Prosecutor Jahanzeb Bharwana pleaded that the court could issue orders for issuing an advertisement to summon Nawaz, as one of his family members had received the notice, and on that basis he could be declared a proclaimed offender.

To a bench's query about serving the notice on the accused through the county court, a Foreign Office representative said he could tell the court about the time frame after getting information from his department.

The court observed that it could testify the attaché, who had implemented the court notices through a video link. NAB Prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi said Nawaz was aware of the court's proceedings against him.

Justice Aamer Farooq remarked that it was also a responsibility of Nawaz Sharif's counsel to ensure his client's presence in the court. Junior counsel for Nawaz Sharif Munavar Dogal pleaded that in their opinion this court had deprived ex-prime minister of his right to listen to him. Khawaja Haris could not appear before the bench due to some reason, he said. The counsel said he would forward the court's instructions to Khawaja Haris. Later, the court adjourned the case till Wednesday (today).