Corruption case: Govt includes Shehbaz Sharif's name in no-fly list

(Karachi) Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has said that PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif's name has been included in the Exit Control List (ECL) as a corruption case worth billions of rupees is pending against him.

Addressing a press briefing on Monday, Rasheed said that if Shehbaz Sharif is allowed to go abroad, it could affect the proceedings of the case. He said that the names of 14 other co-accused in the case are already on the no-fly list.

"There should be one law for everyone. Shehbaz Sharif's name was not in the ECL so the government has decided to include him in the list," he stated.

The interior minister mentioned that the opposition leader said he wanted to go abroad for treatment but he did not submit any medical reports to justify his claim.

On May 8, PML-N President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif was stopped at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport from leaving the country despite having court orders to go abroad for medical treatment.

The immigration officials, citing the system update problem, off-loaded him from the Doha-bound flight. The PML-N leader was granted "one-time" permission by the Lahore High Court (LHC) to fly abroad on health grounds.

Earlier, Shehbaz Sharif was released on bail from Kot Lakhpat Jail in a money laundering case.

The Lahore High Court had approved PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif’s bail after the initial order of the court, granting bail to the opposition leader, was sent to the referee judge due to a dispute between the judges.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had informed the court that there is an allegation of the transfer of Rs533 million against Shehbaz through TTs (telegraphic transfer).

The bureau stated that the PML-N president declared his assets as Rs2.1 million in 1990, which reached Rs41 million in 1998.

It said that several properties are in the name of Shehbaz Sharif’s wife Tehmina Durrani that are under his control. About 13 industrial units and benami companies are in the name of Shehbaz and his relatives.

The NAB said that eight major companies had also been established between 2008 and 2018. The assets of Rs299 million and 26 TTs had been transferred to Nusrat Shehbaz.

Suleman Shehbaz, the son of the accused, received TTs valuing Rs1 billion and Rs60 million, the NAB contended.

It revealed that the money directly was not transferred to Shehbaz's accounts but to his relatives, who then gave him the money when he needed it.