LAHORE: Hussain and Hassan, sons of PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, returned to the country on Tuesday, six years after they left for London to avoid arrest in corruption cases in the Panama Papers scandal.
Their return was made possible after an accountability court had last week suspended their arrest warrants in three corruption cases related to Panama Papers.
Like their father, both had been living in the United Kingdom in self-imposed exile.
The PML-N kept the arrival of Hussain and Hassan Nawaz a “low-key” affair as the media was not informed about their return. Both landed at the Lahore airport from London and were escorted to their Jati Umra residence under tight security of the Punjab police.
Hussain and Hassan Nawaz left the country in 2018 after they were named in the corruption cases. They were declared proclaimed offenders for not joining the investigation and court proceedings and subsequently their arrest warrants were issued.
The Islamabad accountability court had suspended the arrest warrants of Hussain and Hasan till March 14 in the Avenfield apartments, Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment corruption references.
Through their counsel Qazi Misbahul Hassan, they had filed an application seeking the suspension of warrants issued against them in these cases, which was accepted by the court.
The petitioners had said they wanted to surrender before the court “in good faith” in order to face the proceedings. They would appear before the court by March 14.
The court agreed with the NAB prosecutor’s submission that “the purpose of the perpetual warrant of arrest is to procure attendance of the accused and if accused intends to surrender himself before the court, they may be given an opportunity to face the trial.”
In their written reply to the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case, Hussain had admitted to owning offshore properties, while Hassan outright denied owning any property abroad.
Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2024
