LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif on a petition by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against exemption from personal appearance granted to him by a trial court in two cases.

An accountability court had on Jan 17 exempted Shahbaz from appearance in the trial proceedings of Ramzan Sugar Mills and Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme cases.

It was pleaded before the trial court that Shahbaz Sharif was in London to take care of his ailing brother Nawaz Sharif. His lawyers had told court that the PML-N president being a cancer survivor also needed medical consultancy in London.

The trial court had allowed the request and appointed a pleader to represent Mr Shahbaz in the proceedings.

Pleading the NAB’s petition, a prosecutor argued in its petition that the trial court granted the exemption to Shahbaz contrary to the law. He said Shahbaz being a prime suspect in the two references was required to attend the trial proceedings. He asked the court to set aside the trial court’s decision and order the suspect to join the proceedings.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh issued a notice to Shahbaz for March 24. The bench turned down a request of the bureau to suspend the impugned decision as immediate relief.

The bench also sought arguments on a point whether the trial proceedings could be continued in the absence of a suspect.

SANAULLAH: PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah Khan on Tuesday approached the Lahore High Court challenging call-up notices by the NAB in an inquiry into his assets.

Through a writ petition, Rana Sanaullah pleaded that the NAB initiated its probe against same assets already frozen by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) following a drug case against him. He said both the NAB and the ANF were the institutions of federal government. The inquiry by the bureau amounted to double jeopardy, he added.

Moreover, the parliamentarian said all the assets he owned were already declared to the election commission. He said the NAB acted beyond its jurisdiction and started issuing him summons to appear in its inquiry.

He asked the court to set aside the summons by the bureau for being unlawful.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2020