LHC sets aside order declaring Shahbaz’s wife an absconder

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday set aside orders declaring Nusrat Shahbaz, wife of Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif, as an absconder by an accountability court in assets-beyond-means and money laundering case.

An accountability court had declared Nusrat Shahbaz as an absconder on December 8, 2020 over her continued non-appearance in the graft case.

The court directed Nusrat Shahbaz to appoint a pleader to represent her in the trial court, while asking her to join the proceedings after she recovers from her illness.

The division bench comprising Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfaraz Dogar and Justice Asjad Javaid Ghural passed the orders while allowing a petition, filed by Nusrat Shahbaz against the accountability court orders of declaring her an absconder.

Prosecutor Syed Faisal Bukhari, on behalf of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), told the court that the bureau did not have any objection on allowing the plea if certain conditions were accepted.

He submitted that Nusrat Shahbaz’s representative should appear before the trial court on every hearing and apprise her of the developments in the case. The accused would be bound to attend the proceedings after recovery from illness, he added.

At this, Nusrat’s counsel submitted that he did not have any objection on the conditions. Subsequently, the bench set aside the orders of declaring her as an absconder.

In her petition, she said she was residing in a foreign country for medical treatment and she had approached the accountability court for permanent exemption from personal appearance. But the court turned down her application and issued arrest warrants for her while declaring her an absconder. She had pleaded with the court to set aside the trial court verdict.