ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday saying he would not be able to appear before the court on September 10, as ordered.
Earlier this month the Islamabad High Court said it was giving the three-time former PM one more chance to “surrender” and appear before the court on September 10 at the next hearing of a case involving corrupt practices linked to his family’s purchase of upscale London flats.
Last November, Sharif flew to the UK in an air ambulance for medical treatment, a month after he was released on bail from a seven-year prison sentence.
Sharif, who has dominated Pakistani politics for three decades, denies the corruption charges, claiming they are politically motivated.
“Most respectfully prayed that in the peculiar facts and circumstances … this court may very graciously forego the requirement of the applicants surrender at this stage,” the petition read.
Sharif’s lawyer shared his medical reports with the court, and said he was still suffering from multiple illnesses and his treatment in London had been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, because of which he had not been able to “regain his health.”
The petition added that all doctors treating Sharif since his arrival in London “strongly advised him not to travel to Pakistan without getting his treatment done in London, otherwise his life would be at serious risk and his return to Pakistan at this point to time may, God forbid, even prove fatal.”
Sharif has previously lived in exile in Saudi Arabia for seven years after being toppled by the Pakistan military in 2000.
His third term as prime minister ran from 2013 to 2017, when he was removed by the Supreme Court amid revelations over his personal wealth.
Subsequently convicted of corruption, Sharif has consistently denied the accusations.
On October 25 last year, Sharif was granted bail and he obtained court clearance to leave the country for medical treatment.
Since then, “a medical board was constituted and opportunity of personal hearing was given on February 19, 20 and 21,” the cabinet said in a statement last month. “However, neither Sharif appeared, nor any of his medical reports were submitted on his behalf. On Feb 27, 2020, the request for extension in bail was dismissed.”
