Pakistan seeks action against ex-PM Nawaz’s brother over ‘fake’ affidavit ensuring his return 

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government has directed its principal legal officer to request the Lahore High Court (LHC) to either order the return of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif or take action against his brother for submitting a “fake” affidavit ensuring his return, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Sunday.
Nawaz, 72, a key Pakistani opposition leader, has dominated the country’s politics for three decades and thrice served as its prime minister. He was removed from office by a Supreme Court order in 2017 amid revelations regarding his personal wealth.
In December 2018, he was convicted of corruption and sentenced to seven years in jail. He has consistently denied the accusations, saying they were politically motivated. Granted medical bail for treatment in London in 2019, Nawaz has not returned to the country where he is facing non-bailable arrest warrants.
Prior to Nawaz’s travel abroad, his brother, Shehbaz Sharif, had signed a court-approved affidavit, stating that he would ensure his return within four weeks or on confirmation by doctors that he had regained his health and was fit to return to Pakistan.
In August 2021, the UK Home Department refused to extend Nawaz’s stay in the country on medical grounds — a decision the former Pakistani prime minister has appealed with the British Immigration Tribunal.
The Pakistani government has now decided to take up the case and seek action against Nawaz’s brother, who is also the National Assembly opposition leader.
“After submitting an affidavit there (in court), Shehbaz Sharif sahib is lecturing us on one thing or the other,” Hussain lamented at a press conference in Karachi.
“In principle, the high court should have taken suo moto notice and summoned Shehbaz Sharif and asked him that ‘you submitted this affidavit and your brother is not returning, so should we send you to jail over a fake affidavit?’“
He said if the court didn’t take a suo moto notice, then the government would have to become a party in the case “out of compulsion.”
“Yes, the attorney general has been asked to take up this case and request the high court that either Shehbaz Sharif sahib should bring Nawaz Sharif sahib back,” he said.
“And if he doesn’t, then action should be taken against him (Shehbaz) for submitting a fake affidavit.”
Hussain’s comments came a week after local media reports suggested the Pakistani government had reached a “secret deal” with Sharif to bring him back home.
But government officials and opposition members denied on Sunday they were negotiating any deal for the return of the ex-prime minister.
State Minister for Information Broadcasting Farrukh Habib told Arab News there were no such negotiations.
“Not at all. Law will take its course,” Habib said. “He is an absconder, declared by courts. Lifetime disqualified by Supreme Court.”
Ahsan Iqbal, secretary general of Nawaz’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), also denied the reports.
“There is no deal being negotiated with government on the return of Nawaz Sharif. All the debate is speculative and sponsored by government to divert attention from real issues faced by the public,” he told Arab News.
On the possibility of Sharif’s return to Pakistan, he said there were no such plans for now.