Shahbaz allowed to go abroad for medical treatment

Ag Agencies

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday gave one-time permission to Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Shahbaz Sharif, to go abroad for medical treatment as it reserved its ruling on the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president’s plea seeking his removal from the no-fly list.

A day earlier, Sharif had filed a petition in the LHC through Advocate Amjad Parvez, stating that he is a cancer survivor and needs to go abroad for treatment, but the federal government had put his name on the travel blacklist. The Ministry of Interior, the federation and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) were named as respondents in the plea.

The bench, headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, on Friday gave conditional permission to Sharif to go abroad from May 8 to July 3. Sharif also presented a return ticket to the court.

Earlier, the LHC had reserved its verdict on Sharif’s plea seeking exclusion of his name from the travel blacklist. According to Geo News, the government’s counsel argued that treatment could be sought in Pakistan but the defence counsel, Amjad Pervez, stated that Sharif had sought treatment abroad earlier and returned. He argued that his client had obtained bail in all three cases against him — the Ramzan Sugar Mills, Ashiana Housing Scheme, and assets-beyond-means cases — and now wished to exercise his right as a citizen of Pakistan and continue treatment abroad.

It was also argued that an appointment with Sharif’s doctor, who had been managing his case, was already in place for Monday, and would be hard to secure at another time due to coronavirus. It was further argued that flights to and from UK could possibly be cancelled in the coming days.

Sharif stated that neither was he a “smuggler”, nor a “terrorist” for him to be prevented from going abroad. He said his name was added by the government to the blacklist with “ill intent”. The opposition leader told the court that “as soon as his doctors allow” him, he would return to Pakistan.

Meanwhile, objecting to Sharif’s petition, the government’s lawyer said Sharif was the main accused in a money laundering case. “Judicial proceedings will get affected if he leaves the country,” he added.

The court decided to allow Shahbaz to go abroad on medical grounds from May 8 to July 3 and scheduled a hearing for July 5 to continue deliberation of the removal of his name from the blacklist.

Shortly after the ruling, information minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted that the government would avail all legal options to prevent Sharif from going abroad.

He said: “Such hasty decisions are not taken even in the Panchayats. It is a joke with the law because Shahbaz Sharif is involved in money laundering of billions of rupees. It would be unfortunate if the PML-N leader escaped from law in such a manner.”

Shahbaz Sharif, he said, had earlier given a guarantee that his elder brother Nawaz Sharif would return from England after medical treatment. “What happened to that guarantee?” he asked. He tagged the copy of the affidavit submitted by Shahbaz in the Lahore High Court and said it was the guarantee he had given for Nawaz Sharif’s visit abroad. “Instead of giving notice to Shahbaz Sharif for giving a fake guarantee and recalling Nawaz Sharif back to the country, he himself is now being sent abroad,” he added.

Chaudhry said: “Prime Minister Khan had pointed out the weaknesses in the justice system many times but the opposition parties are not ready for reforms.” The main reason for their refusal was that their interests were linked to the present rotten system, he alleged.

PML-N spokeswoman Marriyum Aurangzeb, responding to Chaudhry’s remarks, said Shahbaz’s name was never in the Exit Control List (ECL). “Imran [Khan] Sahab had the names of his political opponents added to a blacklist. Shahbaz Sharif’s name was added to the blacklist out of a desire for political vendetta,” she said.

She said that the move by the government was “illegal”, and the blacklist is one that typically features names of terrorists and anti-state individuals. Aurangzeb said the court kept in mind Shahbaz’s past history of travel and then pronounced the verdict, allowing him to travel once more.

“The allegations of billions of rupees worth of money laundering have been left behind on the containers [you stood atop on] and were never proven in any court of law,” she added.