LHC approached to stop Nawaz Sharif from travelling abroad

LAHORE: A constitutional petition seeking to restrain former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from flying abroad for medical treatment was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday.

The petition states that allowing the PML-N supremo to travel abroad would amount to meeting out unfair treatment to other ailing inmates.

It apprehends that the former premier will not return home like Pakistan’s former US ambassador Hussain Haqqani.

The petitioner requests the court to rule that approval to go abroad would be subject to its decision on this petition.

Earlier today, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) passed the buck of removing former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL) on to the federal government.

In a rejoinder to the Ministry of Interior’s letter regarding a PML-N plea for removal of the former premier’s name from the no-fly list, the bureau demanded that the federal government decide the matter itself.

There are instances of the government removing a person’s name from the ECL on its own, NAB recalled, adding the government is the competent authority to do so.

Earlier, on Nov 8, the Ministry of Interior received a formal application from PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif for removal of the former premier’s name from ECL on health grounds and treatment abroad, according to a statement.

It referred the matter to NAB, to which the removal request was also sent. The health reports of Nawaz received from Sharif Medical City, Lahore have been forwarded to Standing Medical Board for their input and review.