-Info Minister announces to file appeal against LHC order
By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: Federal government on Sunday announced that it would file an appeal challenging the Lahore High Court (LHC) decision giving one-time permission to PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif to go abroad for medical treatment.
The announcement was made by the federal ministers Fawad Chaudhry and Shahzad Akbar in a press conference today.
Speaking during the presser, PM’s aide on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said that the government would file an appeal against the LHC decision and will also present its case before the court regarding stopping PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif from going abroad.
He said that the PML-N leaders secured a decision in favour of Shahbaz Sharif over his name’s inclusion in the blacklist, however, when they reached the airport with an order on the blacklist, it emerged that his name was on the PNI list.
“We have volume 55 which carries evidence against Shahbaz and trial will begin in light of it after Eid,” he said adding that if Shahbaz Sharif is allowed to leave then the trial of other co-accused would also be affected. Speaking on the occasion, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that Punjab health minister Yasmin Rashid was more ill than Shahbaz and Nawaz Sharif, however, she is getting treatment in Pakistan.
“Should both the Sharif brothers not also get treatment in Pakistan?” he asked and further urged their children to return to the country and face cases against them.
Letting Shahbaz Sharif go abroad will mean a special treatment meted out to him other than the hundreds of prisoners languishing in Pakistani jails, the information minister said adding that granting permission will give an impression that influential people could make a mockery of the justice system.
He said that they respect the court orders and had implemented them, however, they also have the right to appeal against the decision.
Moreover, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday said the government will explore legal options against a court order that paved the way for National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif to travel abroad.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday permitted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief to travel to the United Kingdom between May 8 and July 3 for a medical check-up in a ruling that drew criticism from the government. Angered, Chaudhry described the ruling as a “joke” that he said could help Sharif “escape the law as his brother did” in 2019. In a press conference along with Special Advisor to Prime Minister on Interior and Accountability Shahzad Akbar, Chaudhry reiterated the government has no personal vendetta against the Sharif family. “We are only fighting against the organised corruption committed in [the last] 20 years during the reign of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP),” he said.
Allowing Sharif [accused in mega graft cases] to go abroad and detaining ordinary people on minor offences will destroy the very fabric of our judicial system, the minister said. The government, he said, believes the law should be equal for everyone and Sharif should also face cases in the courts instead of seeking opportunities, on one pretext or the other, to escape from the law.
He also wondered how the government could trust his guarantee to return to the country when he had not been able to fulfil the same assurance for his brother and deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif. “The question is how can his guarantee [to return] be accepted when he couldn’t fulfil another absconder’s Nawaz guarantee,” he questioned.
“When he was giving Nawaz’s guarantee, we had the hope at the time that NAB and the court would call him and ask that he had given a guarantee for Nawaz and had to come back with him so where has he [Nawaz] gone?”
The minister observed the opposition had the same stance and pointed to the call by PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari for Nawaz’s return during a conversation with PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz. “The opposition itself thinks that Nawaz is a fugitive.” Chaudhry said the manner in which permission was granted to Sharif to go abroad was a reflection of the “rot in the judicial system”. He also questioned the speed with which Sharif’s application for bail was heard and decided on.
