LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has asked the Lahore High Court to withdraw its stay order granted to Nusrat Shehbaz, wife of Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, against the proceedings to declare an absconder in the money laundering and illegal assets reference.

On a petition of Ms Nusrat, a two-judge bench had restrained the NAB from taking coercive measures against her.

In its reply to the petition, the NAB states that non-bailable arrest warrants and proceedings to declare the petitioner absconder have been initiated after she failed to appear before the trial court. It alleges that Nusrat played a key role in the money laundering committed by her husband and children.

The NAB asks the court to dismiss the petition of Nusrat and allow the trial court and the prosecution to continue proceedings against the petitioner in terms of section 87 and 88 of CrPC.

The bench, comprising Justice Sardar Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Asjad Javed Ghural, would resume hearing on Nusrat’s petition on Monday.

Ms Nusrat who at present is in London, filed her petition through PML-N deputy secretary general Attaullah Tarar as a special attorney. She asked the LHC to set aside the impugned order of the trial court regarding denial of exemption from personal appearance and the issuance of her non-bailable arrest warrants for being illegal.

The petitioner pleads that she is an old and infirm woman of over 66 years of age and she is a known chronic patient of a number of serious ailments including cardiac. She had to go abroad during early 2019 for health reasons and since then she is stuck there for medical treatment.

Denying the allegation of fleeing the country to avoid the proceedings, Ms Nusrat submits that she was already abroad when the NAB started to issue call-up notices to her. She also questions the jurisdiction of the trial court to issue the warrants since she is not residing within its territory prior to filing of the reference.

Ms Nusrat contends that she filed an application for exemption from personal appearance, supported with verified medical documents, in the proceedings but the trial court dismissed the same contrary to the facts.

She asked the LHC to set aside the impugned order of the trial court regarding denial of exemption from personal appearance and the issuance of her non-bailable arrest warrants for being illegal.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2021