ISLAMABAD: The government has rejected former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s application seeking renewal of his passport on the grounds that he has been declared offender by different courts in various cases.
Sharif's diplomatic passport expired on February 16 and he fielded an application with the Pakistan High Commission in London for renewal of his diplomatic passport on February 19.
The Ministry of Interior has written a letter to the High Commission, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and cited different reasons, and directed the Pakistan High Commission in London not to process Sharif’s application for passport renewal.
According to the letter, it is to inform that the application for renewal of passport by Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is misconceived and may not be processed by the relevant authorities.
Sharif has been declared a proclaimed offender by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in criminal appeal no 1/2019 titled Mian Nawaz Sharif vs National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as well as in reference no 6/2020 namely Toshakhana reference by the Accountability Court-III of Islamabad.
Similarly, he has been declared a proclaimed offender in reference no 15/2020 in case of Mir Shakeelur Rehman by the Accountability Court-I, Lahore.
The letter says that Sharif is thereby, required to return to Pakistan and appear before the relevant courts to face charges.
He being a fugitive of law and absconder cannot seek any further relief unless he surrenders before the courts of Pakistan, it says.
The letter further says that as per the IHC order dated October 29, 2019, Sharif was granted eight weeks bail in the form of suspension of sentence which upon expiry was not extended by the Punjab government as he failed to put forth reasonable cause as to why it should be extended for his medical treatment.
Hence, Sharif is now required to serve the remainder of his sentence at Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore.
Yet rather than obeying the dictates of the court and abiding by the conditions precedent in the bail granting order, he fled the country to avoid prosecution, it says.
“In the light of the above grounds Sharif has failed to satisfy as to how he fulfills the requirement as envisaged under the relevant scheme of law for renewal of passport. It is pertinent to be mentioned that issuance of passport is not a fundamental right of any citizen. It being a property of federal government may only be issued once the applicant satisfies the relevant authorities regarding the bonafide of the application. A citizen right to travel abroad extinguishes once declared a fugitive of law," the letter says.
The letter said that in to order to return to Pakistan Sharif may apply for Emergency Travel Document (ETD) from the Pakistan High Commission in London, and the same may be issued once he produced prior booking of travel to Pakistan through the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) only.
In the light of the above details, it is appropriate that a reply may be given to Sharif by the Pakistan High Commission London United Kingdom accordingly, it says.
Sources said that the Ministry of Interior has also sought details of former prime minister Sharif’s medical treatment in the United Kingdom.
The details sought by the Interior Ministry includes current diagnosis by the medical doctors, name and address of doctors under whom he is receiving medical treatment, copies of all the medical reports including tests undertaken in the UK with results of the tests, details of treatment (if any) received in the UK hospitals, details of ongoing treatment (if any), details of payments made for medical treatment in the UK, and dates of visits and consultations made with doctors in the UK.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
Comments
Comments are closed.