LHC declares plea for removal of Nawaz Sharif’s name from ECL maintainable

LAHORE (92 News) – The Lahore High Court has declared a plea seeking removal of Nawaz Sharif’s name from the (ECL) unconditionally on Friday. The court has also summoned the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and both parties at 11:30pm on Saturday. While hearing the plea, the court remarked that it did not want to give the impression of hearing in haste. The additional attorney general said that the government had put the condition of indemnity bonds on humanitarian grounds. “If the PML-N is in haste, it should submit the bonds.” He demanded that the hearing should be adjourned till Monday. The federal government and the NAB had objected to the jurisdiction of the court and the application filed by Shehbaz Sharif. The government submitted a 45-page para-wise reply to court and opposed the unconditional permission to go abroad. It stated that Nawaz Sharif’s name was put on the ECL under instructions from the NAB. “The LHC has no authority to hear the plea as it is federal government’s job to remove the name from the ECL,” it maintained. The government stated that it is responsibility of the government to present a convicted person. Shehbaz Sharif’s lawyer contended that the LHC had power to hear the case. “There is an example of removing the name of Pervez Musharraf from the ECL,” he stated. The counsel also presented the copies of several other verdicts. Earlier, the court had reserved the verdict on the plea. A two-member bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC had postponed hearing of the plea seeking removal of the name of former premier Nawaz Sharif from the (ECL) unconditionally for one hour. Meanwhile, all preparations set to leave for abroad regarding the former premier has been completed at Jati Umra. Nawaz Sharif will leave after the decision in favour of him. On the other hand, the air ambulance administrations in Qatar have been alerted. On Thursday, the application filed by the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) for the removal of Nawaz Sharif’s name from the ECL without any conditionality ‘imposed’ by the federal government. The federal government, the interior ministry and others have been named as respondents in the application. Advocate Amjad Pervez had filed the application in the court on behalf of PML-N President and Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif. The application maintained that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been granted bail on medical grounds; however the Interior Ministry has not removed Sharif’s name from the no-fly list. It further recalled that Sharif, despite of being convicted, left his ailing wife [in the UK] and returned back to Pakistan with his daughter. It stated that there is no prohibition in removing the name from the ECL in the light of the bail granted to Sharif. The application pointed out to previous courts’ rulings that names of convicted persons, who entered plea bargain agreements, were removed from the ECL. A day earlier, Justice Ali Baqir Najfi and Justice Sardar Naeem of LHC heard the plea filed by PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif. The court has issued the notices to the federal government.