Islamabad:
The Pakistan government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday added the name of Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif, who has been charged with corruption, to the no-fly list, barring him from leaving the nation for health-related therapy.
Earlier this month, the Lahore High Court granted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz — also the younger brother of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif — permission to travel abroad when for health-related therapy.
After getting bail, Shehbaz, 69, was about to fly to London on May 8 when an Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) group at the airport stopped him from travelling on the grounds that his name had been on the provisional national identification list (PNIL), which impose a short-term bar on somebody to leave the nation.
Shehbaz was offloaded from Doha-bound flight on May 8.
Addressing a press conference right here on Monday, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed mentioned Shehbaz’s name was added to the exit handle list (ECL) just after approval from the federal Cabinet.
A specific committee of the Interior Ministry on May 12 had proposed to the Cabinet that Shehbaz must be barred from leaving the nation due to corruption instances against him.
Shehbaz wanted to go to London for a health-related checkup just after he was bailed out of jail last month.
The interior minister mentioned Shehbaz had not submitted any health-related documents for travelling abroad or specified the therapy for his illness.
Last week, Shehbaz had challenged the placement of his name on a travel blacklist and sought one-time permission to go abroad for health-related therapy.
“I have been a cancer patient and got treated in New York and London. I could not get treatment for more than seven months as I was in jail,” the top rated PML-N leader mentioned, adding in light of the health-related test report performed in jail, there was a want for quick therapy.
Interior minister Ahmed mentioned Shehbaz “was the guarantor for his brother Nawaz. But instead of bringing him back, he was trying to flee”.
“If Nawaz Sharif did not return then why should Shehbaz return? This is a matter of common sense,” he mentioned in reply to a query.
Sharif has been in London considering the fact that November 2019 on “medical grounds”.
The Imran Khan government has declared Sharif an absconder and cancelled his passport. Sharif left the nation just after the court granted him bail in the Al-Azizia Mills corruption case in which he was undergoing seven years imprisonment in Kot Lakhpat jail Lahore.
He was also granted 4-week bail on health-related grounds to have his therapy abroad. The government declared him an absconder just after he failed to justify prolonging his keep in London.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry also mentioned that Shehbaz’s name has been added to the no-fly list just after approval from the Cabinet and completion of legal formalities. “The relevant record has been updated in this regard,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, criticising the government’s move, PML-N leader Azam Nazir Tarar mentioned the party will file a case of contempt of court.
“The government refused to let him (Shehbaz) go abroad despite orders by the Lahore High Court,” Tarar mentioned.
Several PML-N leaders have been facing corruption instances, which they claim, are politically motivated.
On April 23, 2021, Shehbaz walked no cost from Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail just after about eight months behind bars in the funds laundering and assets beyond implies reference filed by the country”s anti-graft body.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had alleged that Shehbaz’s family had assets of about PKR 16.5 million till 1990, which elevated to more than PKR 7 billion in 2018 which had been disproportionate to his recognized sources of earnings.