Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s exit from Pakistan is a “mockery of the system”, said the Islamabad High Court (IHC) bench on Wednesday.
The court passed the remarks after Additional Attorney General Tariq Khokhar presented a compliance report on Nawaz Sharif’s arrest warrants issued by the high court.
The report was submitted to the two-member bench, comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Aamer Farooq, hearing the petition filed by the former prime minister against his sentence in the Avenfield apartments.
Khokhar, while briefing the court on the attempts made to arrest Nawaz Sharif, said that Rao Abdul Hanan, an officer of the Pakistani High Commission, had visited the residence of the PML-N chief in London. He added that Eddie, the person at the apartment, “refused” to receive the arrest warrant.
“Every effort was made to enforce Nawaz Sharif’s arrest warrant,” the government’s lawyer told the court. He also read Hanan’s statements regarding the arrest warrant.
After Khokhar’s explanation, Additional Prosecutor General of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Jahanzaib Bharwana informed the court that they were aware of the attempts made to arrest Nawaz Sharif.
Khokhar then told the court that the Pakistani mission in London also contacted the commonwealth office, via telephone, over the warrant. He added that the commonwealth office informed them that it was not in their jurisdiction to implement the IHC’s order.
