Sugar mills case: Nawaz granted exemption from personal appearance

An accountability court on Friday granted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif exemption from personal appearance on medical grounds in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case till January 31. Advocate Amjad Pervez furnished before the court fresh medical reports of Nawaz Sharif and said his client was still under treatment in London and doctors had not so far permitted him air travel.

The court therefore extended the exemption to Nawaz Sharif till next hearing. Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz was brought to the court from jail to attend hearing of Ramzan Sugar Mills and illegal assets/money laundering cases.

Meanwhile, another accountability court sought reply from the NAB on objections filed by Shahbaz and his sons - Hamza and Salman - against freezing of their assets.

The court had previously allowed an application by the NAB to freeze assets of Shahbaz's family giving 14-day time to the aggrieved party to challenge the decision. The bureau had sought freezing of their assets following an inquiry of money laundering.

Another suspect Yousaf Abbas was brought to the court from jail to attend the proceedings while PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, who was on bail, had already been exempted by the court from personal appearance till filing of reference by the NAB.