Pakistan court gives ‘last chance’ to former PM Nawaz Sharif to surrender before Sept 10

Islamabad, Sep. 1 (PTI): A Pakistani court on Tuesday gave a “last chance” to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to surrender and appear before it on September 10 for hearing in a corruption case against him, according to media reports.

Sharif, 70, has been in London since November last year after the Lahore High Court granted him permission to go abroad for four weeks for treating a heart disease and an immune system disorder. The three-time premier was sentenced to seven years in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case

A two-member special bench of the Islamabad High Court — comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani — on Tuesday heard the petitions against the sentences of Sharif, daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (retd) Safdar in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia Steel Mills cases, Dawn News reported.

We are not passing the final verdict as of yet. We are giving you [Nawaz] last chance to surrender before the next hearing. Nawaz Sharif should appear before the court in any case, the bench said.

Sharif’s lawyer, Khawaja Harris, said the former premier was not medically fit to return to Pakistan and a related petition was pending in the Lahore High Court.

Further hearing of the case was adjourned till September 10. Appeals of Maryam and Captain Safdar would be heard on September 23, the Express Tribune reported.

The Pakistan government has already declared Sharif an absconder and approached the UK government for his extradition.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Shahzad Akbar last week said Sharif’s four-week bail on medical grounds had expired in December last year.

Akbar said the government would task the National Accountability Bureau to pursue Sharif’s extradition

In a recent interview with ARY News, Prime Minister Imran Khan said his government “regretted” the decision to lift the ban on Sharif.

In May, a picture of Sharif having tea at a London cafe along with his family went viral on social media, sparking a debate on the seriousness of his health condition.

The government came under further criticism when last week Sharif’s photos surfaced online, showing him strolling in a street, prompting calls from within the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf to bring him back.