ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The federal government on Wednesday allowed the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to visit abroad for medical treatment for four weeks, and upheld its yesterday’s decision of according the approval subject to the submission of an indemnity bond by the applicant.
While addressing a Press Conference in Islamabad on Wednesday along with the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Accountability Shahzad Akbar, the Federal Minister for Law & Justice Farogh Naseem said that it’s a one-time permission which enables Nawaz Sharif to proceed abroad for a medical treatment for four weeks.
However, the former prime minister or the applicant Shahbaz Sharif would have to submit an indemnity bond of Rs 7 billion if Nawaz Sharif wants to embark on a foreign visit to receive medical treatment.
Farogh Naseem clarified that the government is asking for indemnity bond, not bail bond. He also noted that the concession is not being offered as a result of any deal; rather, the decision has been made purely on merit.
The Special Assistant on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said that under the law, the name of a convicted person can’t be withdrawn from the Exit Control List (ECL). He said that the one-time permission doesn’t indicate that a specific name has been withdrawn from the ECL. He also said that if asked, they would also need to satisfy the Courts that at which conditions, the government allowed a convicted person to proceed abroad.
Shahzad Akbar said that if Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has any objection on the indemnity bond, it may approach the Courts. He further said that the matter involves a seriously ill person; therefore, it should not be politicized.
Nawaz Sharif refuses to accept government’s conditions
Sources said that the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has again refused to comply with the conditions set by the federal government for him to visit abroad.
They said that Nawaz Sharif has informed his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif about his decision, and now it’s very likely that PML-N will knock at the door of the Court for a permission.
