Shehbaz skips NAB appearance citing coronavirus lockdown

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif on Friday opted to skip his appearance in the NAB citing the lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a letter sent to the NAB officials, the PML-N chief gave reasons for his not coming to NAB office and said “During my physical remand in NAB custody he was quizzed in detail about his sources of income and he gave all the information about his assets to the NAB then.”

He regretted that all his detailed replies in money laundering and assets beyond income cases had been termed incomplete and unsatisfactory. “I have fully cooperated with the NAB as I have appeared before it whenever they had sent me call-up notices. The record of my all assets is declared and is with the concerned departments,” he added.

“I am 69 years old and a cancer patient, and my immunity is very low. Doctors have advised me to avoid going outside the house. So I request the NAB to defer my summoning till the end of the lockdown and the further advice of my doctors,” the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly maintained.

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Speaking to the media, Shehbaz Sharif’s lawyer said the NAB-Niazi nexus will not demoralize the party, and asked, “For how long, NAB will reduce itself to a political tool in the hands of Imran Khan?”

The opposition leader’s lawyer, Attaullah Tarar, said that his client had been a cancer patient and it is not possible for him to appear before the NAB due to increased cases of coronavirus and lockdown in the city.

“However, Shehbaz Sharif has submitted his written statement to the NAB,” the lawyer said.

Tarar said that the PML-N President had appeared before the NAB several times, and had submitted detailed written statements. He said that Shehbaz Sharif had been detained for 130 days, including 61 days in NAB custody. “During custody, he was thoroughly investigated by the NAB, and Shehbaz answered to each question in black and white.”

“Shehbaz Sharif has said several times that he will forsake politics forever the day his corruption is proved.”

The lawyer further said that his client’s assets are legally declared with FBR and Election Commission of Pakistan, and added that “Currently, the related documents and record is not accessible due to the lockdown.”

Tarar said that after the lockdown is ended, the younger Sharif will appear before the NAB subject to his doctor’s advice. “Shehbaz Sharif has always been cooperative with the NAB in its investigation. However, until now NAB has neither filed any reference in the court nor has produced any evidence against him. Despite the passage of two years, NAB could not prove a penny’s corruption against my client.”

The lawyer further said that NAB was even embarrassed, at times, by the courts due to its inability to produce any evidence against the opposition leader. “However, the NAB-Niazi nexus will not demoralize us,” Tarar said and asked, “For how long, NAB will reduce itself as a political sceptre in the hands of Imran Khan?”

Shehbaz Sharif’s counsel said that “This accountability process seems to be a game to distract people from the thefts of wheat and sugar.”

He said that the PML-N leader is prepared to actively stop the spread of the pandemic, and lamented that instead of benefiting from the wider experience of the former Punjab chief minister, the government is bent upon the vengeful activities against the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.