Court exempts Sharif from appearing in graft case

LAHORE: An accountability court has exempted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his nephew Yousuf Abbas from appearing in proceedings of the Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) corruption case till filing of a reference by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), it was reported on Tuesday.

During Monday’s hearing, Abbas was present in the court.

Earlier, Sharif had been granted exemption from personal appearance on medical grounds as he had been in London for his treatment for a couple of months with the court’s permission.

On Monday, Advocate Amjad Pervez argued in the court that Sharif was still staying abroad as doctors treating him in London had not permitted him air travel.

Moreover, he said, the NAB had also failed to file a reference against the former leader so far in the case.

Therefore, he asked the court to exempt both suspects — Sharif and Abbas — from personal appearance in proceedings till a reference was filed by the NAB.

Accountability Court Judge Ameer Muhammad Khan allowed the applications and observed that suspects would be summoned after the filing of the reference.

The NAB has accused three suspects of committing money laundering under the garb of sale/purchase of the sugar mills’ shares.

It said that Sharif held majority shares of the mills during tenure as the Punjab Finance Minister, Chief Minister and the Prime Minister.

It said the suspects made huge investments in the mills from 1992 to 2016 with funds disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan while criticising the leader of opposition in national assembly said that Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz (PML-N) president Shahbaz Sharif has started a dirty game amid the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic in the country.