As the government and Sharif brothers remained at an impasse over the terms of Nawaz Sharif’s travel abroad — specifically his return to Pakistan — the Lahore High Court (LHC) said it would draft its own undertaking for the former premier’s travel and give to lawyers of both sides.
A two-judge bench, comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem, is hearing the petition challenging the government’s condition of furnishing indemnity bonds in order to secure the removal of Nawaz’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL).
During the hearing, Justice Najafi remarked that in his opinion, it was not fair for the government to place conditions after the Islamabad High Court had granted bail to Nawaz Sharif. If Nawaz’s health improves, the federal government’s board can examine him, the bench pointed out.
After hearing arguments, the court said it would present its own draft for the undertaking and handed it over to lawyers of both sides for review.
The hearing is expected to resume shortly.
The hearing, which has been underway since 11am and has been adjourned multiple times, will determine whether Nawaz can travel abroad for medical treatment without submitting the bonds — a condition set by the government.
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The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday directed Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shehbaz Sharif to submit a written undertaking about the former prime minister’s travel abroad for medical treatment and his return.
The federal government’s lawyer maintained that the state was aware of Sharif’s critical health condition and allowed the removal of his name from the no-fly list on the conditionality of submission of indemnity bond. “The erstwhile premier can submit the bond to the court if he does not want to submit it to the government,” the counsel added.
He argued that the condition of furnishing an indemnity bond was added in order to “satisfy the court”.
A two-judge bench, comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem, is hearing the petition challenging the government’s condition of furnishing indemnity bonds in order to secure the removal of ailing Nawaz’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL).
Following the court’s directions, the PML-N legal team submitted a handwritten draft of the undertaking to the court, which said: “As soon as doctors abroad permit [Nawaz to return], he will come back to the country without wasting a moment.”
“Nawaz Sharif will return and face the cases against him in court,” it added.
The two-page document pointed out the former premier was leaving the country on the “recommendations of Pakistani doctors”.
The hearing has been adjourned until 2:30pm.
‘God will bring him back’
Earlier, the bench asked PML-N President Shehbaz, who was in court for the hearing, if he was willing to guarantee that Nawaz will return. To this, Shehbaz said: “God will bring him back.”
PML-N lawyer Amjad Pervez told the court that Nawaz had returned to Pakistan for the proceedings of the corruption references filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). He insisted that the former premier “respects the law”.
Pervez further said that the Islamabad High Court had suspended Nawaz’s sentence and argued: “The government cannot interfere while the matter is in the court.”
The court asked Nawaz’s lawyer if the former premier was willing to submit anything as surety. The bench allowed PML-N’s legal team to discuss the matter with Nawaz and adjourned the proceedings for 15 minutes, after which the lawyers held consultations with Shehbaz in the courtroom.
