Pakistan HC slams Nawaz Sharif for failing to appear before court

A court here has slammed Nawaz Sharif over his failure to appear before the court after permission was granted to fly abroad to get medical treatment in November last year

A court here has slammed former Prime Minister and Pakistani Muslim League (N) supremo Nawaz Sharif over his failure to appear before the court after permission was granted to fly abroad to get medical treatment in November last year.

"Accused [Sharif] knows that he went abroad after defeating the system. He must be laughing at the system while sitting abroad. It's shameful conduct by the accused," Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune.

This comes after Sharif on Wednesday had said that he has been informed that "someone else" was running the Parliament, instead of its members.

"People tell me that someone else is running the Parliament. Other people come and give directions about the day's agenda and voting on bills etc," he said while virtually addressing a meeting of its party from the United Kingdom.

Pakistan has fast-tracked the process to bring back PML-N leader from London, where he had been staying since November 2019 on medical grounds.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday tasked relevant authorities with bringing back Sharif at the earliest. The decision was taken during a cabinet meeting where the PM also issued the directive to pursue the matter vigorously.

A cabinet member told Dawn the government had already sent a request to the British government for the PML-N leader's repatriation but it would now send a fresh application.

He said besides a normal application, a formal request for his extradition would also be made. "Although we have no extradition treaty with the UK, wanted people can be repatriated under special arrangements as we had also handed over some people to the UK," the cabinet member said.

Last week, the IHC Tuesday came down heavily on the Imran Khan-led government that it allowed Sharif to go abroad without informing the court and it was up to the dispensation to take steps for ensuring the latter's return to the country.

Additional Attorney General Tariq Mehmood Khokhar told a bench comprising Justices Aamer Farooq and Mohsin Akhtar Kayani that Pakistan's Foreign Office implemented the court-issued non-bailable arrest warrants without delay through the Pakistan High Commission in the UK on September 17, Geo News reported.