Govt withdraws appeal against Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday disposed of the federal government’s appeal against the Lahore High Court’s May 7 order granting conditional permission to PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan withdrew the appeal after Shehbaz assured that he would not pursue the application he has filed in the LHC seeking contempt of court against the government for not allowing him to fly out of the country in violation of its May 7 order.

Also Read: LHC disposes of Shehbaz plea against name on blacklist

The SC held that the way the opposition leader was given relief cannot be cited as an example in any case.

The AG stated before the court that the LHC has transferred the judge that was conducting the trial of Shehbaz, to which the PML-N leader’s lawyer asked what is wrong with appointing a new presiding officer of the accountability court.

It takes three to four months for a new judge to be appointed, the attorney general said, adding that Shehbaz Sharif doesn’t want the case to be wrapped up swiftly.

Also Read: No guarantee Shehbaz will return: govt challenges LHC decision in SC

“The government has objections to the way the judge was transferred,” the AG said.

The Lahore High Court’s registrar said that the court has forwarded the names of new judges to the government for their appointment to accountability courts. At this, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, a member of the bench, asked if the government has objections to the new names, to which the AG replied that he have no knowledge of it.

On May 7, the Lahore High Court granted one-time permission to the PML-N leader to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Shehbaz reached Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore in wee hours of May 8 to fly out of the country but was stopped from boarding a Qatar-bound flight due to his name still being on the blacklist.