Caretaker cabinet approves to withdraw notification of Sharif's trial in Jail

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – The caretaker federal cabinet on Wednesday approved to withdraw the notification pertaining to the trial of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and members of his family in the two pending cases including the Al-Azizia and Flagship references inside jail. Caretaker PM Justice (r) Nasirul Mulk presided over a federal cabinet session at Prime Minister's House. During the cabinet meeting, the nine-point agenda was taken into consideration. According to the sources, the session concluded important steps for making the procedure of upcoming general election as fair, free and transparent. The cabinet discussed security, law and order, transparency of elections, measures against money-laundering and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) conditions at the session. In the meeting, the caretaker cabinet also discussed about deduction of the salaries for Construction of Basha and Mohmand dams. – Not to collect sales, income tax from FATA, PATA – Caretaker Minister for Information and Broadcasting Syed Ali Zafari said that the caretaker federal government has decided not to collect sales tax on electricity and manufacturing and income tax on profits in business from the FATA and PATA areas as part of implementation of tribal areas' merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This was stated by caretaker minister while briefing the journalists about decisions taken in the cabinet's meeting held in Islamabad on Wednesday with PM Nasirul Mulk in the chair. Syed Ali Zafar, who heads Implementation Committee on FATA's merger, said there will be no customs duty on non-duty paid vehicles for five years after their registration. The minister said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor will promulgate an ordinance within two days to settle legal matters regarding FATA's merger with KP. Earlier, the government had issued a notification to conduct trial of the Sharif family members in the two NAB cases in jail. However, the Sharif's lawyer has challenged the decision to hold jail trial. The Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif as the prime minister in 2017 due to the Panama Papers case. The court ordered NAB to file three corruption references against Sharif and his family.