Nawaz granted three-day exemption from court appearance

The accountability court hearing corruption references against deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members granted a three-day exemption to the former premier on account of Kulsoom Nawaz’s demise.

The application was moved by Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Haris seeking exemption from personal appearance in the Al-Azizia & Hill Metal Establishment reference hearing. Providing two reasons for seeking the exemption, the application stated that the demise of former first lady Kulsoom Nawaz had affected Nawaz’s mental and physical health and also cited his personal commitments as reasons for not appearing before the court.

“The applicant has been inundated by visits from his relatives and well-wishers from all over the country on a daily basis, and this has resulted in his suffering from fatigue, which has been further compounded by grief suffered not only on account of demise of his late wife, but also because of being disabled from spending time with her and being besides her during the last days of her life,” said the application submitted in court.

The defence had requested a five-day exemption in its application.

The application also nominated Ibrahim Haroon to appear in court in lieu of Nawaz for the exempted time period.

Objecting to the plea, NAB prosecutor Wasiq Malik stressed on lack of extraordinary circumstances to grant the exemption. He further pointed out that no certificate regarding the defendant’s health was produced before the court and there is no provision in law to grant an exemption on the grounds mentioned in the application.

Haris, defending his client, stated that it is normal for a person to get affected in such circumstances and assured the court that the trial will not be affected due to Nawaz’s three-day exemption.

After the exemption was granted, the defence resumed cross-examination of JIT head Wajid Zia.

Source: Express Tribune