ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was granted three-day exemption from personal appearance during hearing of Al-Azizia/Hill Metal Establishment reference by an accountability court here on Monday.
Advocate Khawaja Haris filed an application on behalf of the former premier, requesting Accountability Judge Arshad Malik to allow his client exemption from appearance in court for five days.
He stated that Sharif has still been reeling under grief owing to the death of his wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz and needed some time, especially after his release from prison last week, to pick up the pieces.
The lawyer, however, assured that no hurdle would be created to the trial proceedings and Ibrahim Haroon will appear before the court as his client’s representative.
PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (retired) Safdar were released from Adiala prison after an Islamabad High Court bench suspended their sentence and ordered their release on bail.
On Sept 19, a division bench comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb granted a petition filed by the Sharif family seeking suspension of the Avenfield verdict until a final decision on their appeals against the sentence.
Sharif along with his daughter and son-in-law was released on parole hours after the death of his wife Begum Kusloom, who died in London on Sept 12.