ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appeared before Lahore High Court on Monday in a high treason case filed against him after his controversial interview given to the daily newspaper Dawn.
Among the co-accused appearing alongside Sharif were ex-PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and journalist Cyril Almeida.
Sharif, after his ouster from the government, had said in his interview with Almeida for Dawn that the attackers involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks belonged to Pakistan. The interview sparked controversy across the country and led to a National Security Council (NSC) meeting held on his statement.
Abbasi, the then prime minister, was accused of sharing the NSC meeting’s minutes with his predecessor and the party supremo, Nawaz Sharif, which was a violation of the Official Secret Act of 1923.
Civil society activist Amna Malik filed a petition against Sharif, claiming his controversial interview had dented the country’s image and sovereignty. She argued that Abbasi violated his oath as PM by leaking the confidential information to Sharif and thus prayed to the court that all three respondents — Sharif, Abbasi and Almeida — should be tried for high treason according to Article 6 of the Constitution.
Security around the court premises was beefed up: Heavy contingents of Rangers and police were deployed as several Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers gathered outside the court awaiting the arrival of their party’s supremo and surrounded him as soon as Sharif reached the premises.
As the hearing began, the three-judge bench comprising Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Atir Mahmood and Justice Chaudhry Masood Jahangir, questioned the Deputy Attorney General, Mian Tariq, about the action taken by the government under Article 6 of the Constitution.
The court noted that “this is a sensitive issue.”
“Taking action under Article 6 is the government’s job,” Justice Jahangir remarked.
Justice Naqvi ordered a complete report on the matter to be submitted to the court by the attorney general.
During the last hearing, Almeida’s name was placed on the Exit Control List and non-bailable warrants for his arrest were issued after his failure to attend the previous hearings.
Almeida’s counsel, Advocate Ahmed Rauf, had filed written replies and comments on behalf of his client before Monday’s hearing, after which the court ordered the journalist’s name to be removed from the no-fly list and the warrants were withdrawn.
During the hearing, Abbasi’s lawyer requested the court adjourn the hearing until after the by-polls scheduled to take place on Oct. 14. Accepting the request, the bench adjourned the hearing until Oct. 22.
Two former Pakistan premiers summoned in high treason case
Two former Pakistan premiers summoned in high treason case
- A petition was filed against ex-PM Nawaz Sharif to try him for high treason after his controversial interview with journalist Cyril Almeida, in which Sharif said the 26/11 Mumbai attackers belonged to Pakistan
- Former Prime Minister Shahid Khakan Abbasi is accused of leaking details of the National Security Council (NSC) meeting summoned on Shairf’s statement, thus violating his oath
Pakistan reports current account surplus in Jan. owing to improved trade, remittances
- Pakistan’s exports crossed the $3 billion mark in Jan. as the country received $3.5 billion in remittances
- Last month, IMF urged Pakistan to accelerate pace of structural reforms to strengthen economic growth
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan recorded a current account surplus of more than $120 million in January, the country’s finance adviser said on Tuesday, attributing it to improved trade balance and remittance inflows.
Pakistan’s exports rebounded in January 2026 after five months of weak performance, rising 3.73 percent year on year and surging 34.96 percent month on month, according to data released by the country’s statistics bureau.
Exports crossed the $3 billion mark for the first time in January to reach $3.061 billion, compared to $2.27 billion in Dec. 2025. The country received $3.5 billion in foreign remittances in Jan. 2026.
Khurram Schehzad, an adviser to the finance minister, said Pakistan reported a current account surplus of $121 million in Jan., compared to a current account deficit of $393 million in the same month last year.
“Improved trade balance in January 2026, strong remittance inflows, and sustained momentum in services exports (IT/Tech) continue to reinforce the country’s external account position,” he said on X.
Pakistan has undergone a difficult period of stabilization, marked by inflation, currency depreciation and financing gaps, and international rating agencies have acknowledged improvements after Islamabad began implementing reforms such as privatizing loss-making, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and ending subsidies as part of a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan program.
Late last month, the IMF urged Pakistan to accelerate the pace of these structural reforms to strengthen economic growth.
Responding to questions from Arab News at a virtual media roundtable on emerging markets’ resilience, IMF’s director of the Middle East and Central Asia Jihad Azour said Islamabad’s implementation of the IMF requirements had been “strong” despite devastating floods that killed more than 1,000 people and devastated farmland, forcing the government to revise its 4.2 percent growth target to 3.9 percent.
“What is important going forward in order to strengthen growth and to maintain the level of macroeconomic stability is to accelerate the structural reforms,” he said at the meeting.
Azour underlined Pakistan’s plans to privatize some of the SOEs and improve financial management of important public entities, particularly power companies, as an important way for the country to boost its capacity to cater to the economy for additional exports.
“This comes in addition to the effort that the authorities have made in order to reform their tariffs, which will allow the private sector of Pakistan to become more competitive,” the IMF official said.
