Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is all set to return to the country later tonight and appear for his corruption case hearing tomorrow, according to PML-N sources.
Nawaz, his daughter Maryam, and son-in-law MNA Capt (retd) Safdar are expected to be indicted by the accountability court hearing corruption charges against them.
Sharif, first went to London on August 30 and returned to the country on September 25 to face the Supreme Court-directed corruption cases against him.
He later arrived in London on October 4 on the latest leg of his trip to tend to his wife through her sickness as she was diagnosed with lymphoma (cancer of lymph nodes) by British doctors on August 22.
At the last hearing on October 9, the accountability court approved the bail of Maryam and Safdar after they made their appearance in court.
Judge Mohammad Bashir also approved the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) plea to declare Nawaz’s sons, Hasan and Hussain, proclaimed offenders as they failed to show up in court; their proceedings were also separated in three references filed against them. At the last hearing on October 2, their non-bailable arrest warrants that were issued against them remain in effect.
The court also approved of Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Harris’s request to approve his client’s exemption from appearance for that date only.
The judge set October 13 as the date on which Nawaz, Maryam and Safdar – all three will be indicted.
The accountability court has concluded to hear a total of three corruption cases against the Sharif family filed by NAB in light of the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Panama Papers case.
At the last hearing, the court also approved Maryam and Safdar’s bail in the Avenfield properties case and directed them to submit surety bonds worth Rs 5 million each.
Safdar was also ordered to ask for permission from the court before leaving the country from now onwards. The judge also provided a copy of the reference, which was spread over 53 volumes, to Maryam and Safdar.
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