Court rejects Sharif, Maryam’s plea for exemption

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court of Islamabad on Friday rejected ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s plea for a seven-day exemption from appearance before in references lodged against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Judge Muhammad Bashir accepted the former premier’s exemption request for appearance for Friday. Sharif and his daughter Maryam, who are currently in London to inquire about the health of Begum Kulsoom, are scheduled to appear before him on Monday.

However, the judge said that if they could not appear on that day they could request for exemption.

Earlier, Sharif said that he wanted to spend maximum time with wife, a cancer patient. He said he had been meeting doctors in London in connection with her health. “She has gotten very weak,” he said and requested for prayers for his spouse.

Begum Kulsoom has been undergoing treatment at a London hospital. She was admitted to the facility again after her condition deteriorated. Doctors had hoped Kulsoom’s health would take a turn for the better after six chemotherapy sessions. She has not recovered in line with their expectations. Sharif and Maryam had proceeded to London on Wednesday to see her.

TREATMENT ENDS

Sharif said on Friday that the chemotherapy treatment of his ailing wife has ended.

Sharif said if his wife did not positively respond to the ongoing treatment, the doctors want to operate her once again. She could not walk and is wheel-chair bound. The pictures, available on social media, show that she has become very weak.

The former president of the Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz was speaking to the media in London and said the doctors told him that surgery will be done if the cancer reappears, Geo News reported. She is admitted in Princess Grace Hospital in London.

While responding to a question about his return to Pakistan, where he is currently facing cases of corruption, Sharif said that the decision to return depended on the court’s judgment on exemption from appearance before it.

Sharif had told Geo News earlier that Kulsoom Nawaz’s treatment was underway and six chemotherapy sessions had been done. The former Prime Minister and his daughter Maryam Nawaz had arrived in London on Wednesday night.