Nawaz Sharif not allowed to meet family even on Eid

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Friday criticised the Imran Khan government for not allowing the family of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to meet him in jail even on the third day of Eid.

PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a statement that by adopting such tactics Prime Minister Khan was "taking revenge for his (PM's) incompetence and ineptness", the Express Tribune reported.

She said that while Khan fully enjoyed the Eid celebrations, he did not allow the former premier, who has been incarcerated in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail since December last year, to meet his family even on Eid's last day.

Meanwhile, Punjab government spokesperson Shahbaz Gill said that the PML-N had been left with no issue other than Sharif's health. He was quoted as saying that "Mian Sahib is quite healthy and living a normal life in jail".

He claimed that Sharif was denied a meeting with his family due to the terms of his prison sentence. He said Sharif had met his family and over 225 party leaders and workers before Eid, while the family could meet him again on Saturday (today) as per jail authorities.

Referring to the former prime minister's routine of spending the last days of Ramazan and Eid in Saudi Arabia, Gill added that this was the first time when 'Mian Sahab' spent the Eid days in Pakistan only because he is imprisoned.

The three-time former Pakistani Prime Minister was sentenced to seven years in Lahore prison by an accountability court last year after he was found guilty in the Al Azizia Steel Mills corruption case.

The ailing Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader was granted bail on medical grounds by the Pakistani Supreme Court on March 26 for six weeks. But the ousted leader returned to jail last month after the six-week bail expired on May 7 as the Supreme Court rejected his review petition seeking an extension to the bail.