LHC questions Shehbaz's absence from hearing post-Covid recovery

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday extended interim bail of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif in assets case until July 16.

Headed by Justice Sardar Ahmed Naeem, a two-judge bench of the high court heard the bail petition.

“Why didn’t Shehbaz Sharif show up if his Covid-19 test report came back negative,” questioned the bench.

Sharif’s lawyer told the judges that as per health experts, a coronavirus patient is declared as having recovered from the disease after his two test reports come back negative. He added the PML-N leader is not completely fit.

The court approved the PML-N leader’s plea for exemption from personal appearance.

During the previous hearing, the court had directed Shehbaz Sharif to get himself tested for the novel coronavirus from the Institute of Public Health.

NAB lawyer had told the judges that the accused was to take a COVID-19 test on June 25 but he had not done so yet. He will keep asking the court for more time this way, he added.

Earlier, on June 3, the Lahore High Court (LHC) had restrained the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting Shehbaz Sharif in a money-laundering case case against him.

The bench directed him to furnish a surety bond of Rs500,000 to secure the bail until June 17.