Court issues fresh summons to Sharif after he skips hearing

A Pakistani court today issued fresh summons to ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his children, currently in London, to appear before it next week after they failed to turn up at a hearing in connection with the corruption cases.
The accountability court is hearing the corruption cases filed against 67-year-old Sharif after the Supreme Court on July 28 disqualified him in the Panama Papers case.
The court, which held its first hearing today, had summoned Sharif, his daughter Maryam, sons Hussain and Hasan and son-in-law Muhammad Safdar.
Asif Kirmani, Sharif's political advisor who appeared in the court on his behalf, told the media after a brief hearing that former premier was in London to take care of his ailing wife and would soon come back.

Sharif's wife Kulsoom Nawaz is in London where she is undergoing treatment for her throat cancer.
"I informed the court that my leader (Sharif) was in London along with the entire family due to illness of wife," he said.

The court accepted the plea and adjourned the case till September 26.
It ordered that fresh summons should be issued for the former first family to appear on the next hearing, directing that the summons be dispatched to the family's London address.
Earlier, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed four corruption cases on September 8 against Sharifs and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

According to Supreme Court, the accountability judge should decide the cases within six months.