LAHORE, Dec 19: A special court on Monday issued notice to the Punjab government on an application through which Asif Zardari has sought exemption from personal appearance on medical grounds.

The court directed the government to submit by Jan 10 a report with the opinion whether he could be exempted for a long period.

A fresh medical certificate, issued by a hospital in Dubai, was also submitted to the court by advocates Khurram Latif Khosa and Mian Jahangir. The counsel also filed an application seeking withdrawal of his arrest warrants.

The court had dismissed on Nov 17 a similar petition which sought the review of its decision of issuing arrest warrants.

The court said the accused was not allowed exemption for three months. The exemption was only for Sept 9, Oct 10 and Nov 12 and not for a longer period. It said the accused had not appeared on July 23 when the case was transferred to this court.

Mr Zardari is facing drug trafficking charges along with co-accused Arif Baloch, serving a term at Kot Lakhpat Jail in another case, Fauzi Ali Kazmi, Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza, Ayub Afridi, Anwar Khattak and Shorang Khan. The Qila Gujjar Singh police registered the case in 1997.

However, the ANF has not recovered any drugs and could not produce any material evidence to substantiate the allegation.

One of the co-accused, Shorang Khan, died of cancer in August.