Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif observed on Monday that he had neither requested the Supreme Court for an exemption from attendance at court hearings nor did he plan to do so.
On Sunday, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had directed the accountability court hearing the references against the Sharif family to announce the verdict within a month. The top judge remarked that the former premier, along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz, could visit his ailing wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz in London. The CJP asked Nawaz’s then-counsel Khawaja Haris to inform the court of his client’s date of return from London. He also said that Nawaz’s claim of being denied the permission to visit his ailing wife was a way to gain publicity. “We will grant the permission if we are requested verbally,” the chief justice said.
In his response during the informal talk with the media on Monday, Nawaz denied having made any request to the apex court.
“I neither made such a request and nor plan to do so,” he said.
The former prime minister also refused to comment when asked about Musharraf’s condition to return to Pakistan only if he was given a guarantee in all cases against him. “I won’t say anything about that,” he said.
Published in Daily Times, June 12th 2018.
