Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has decided to challenge the placement of his name on the exit control list (ECL) in the Lahore High Court (LHC).
The interior ministry had issued a notification regarding ban on foreign travel by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president after the federal cabinet decided to place his name of the ECL on a request by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), from whose custody Shehbaz was released on bail.
Following a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had revealed that a summary for the placement Shehbaz Sharif’s name on the ECL had been approved on a request by the NAB.
The anti-graft watchdog is investigating the former Punjab chief minister in Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing case, Saaf Pani Company case and Ramzan Sugar Mills case.
The NAB had arrested Shehbaz on October 5, 2018, in connection with the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme case. The PML-N president was released from sub-jail on February 15, a day after the Lahore High Court granted him bail in Ashiana-e-Iqbal and Ramzan Sugar Mills cases.
However on Feb 18, the NAB filed a new reference in the accountability court against Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz in connection with the Ramzan Sugar Mills case. The father-son duo was nominated as primary accused in the reference.
Published in Daily Times, February 24th 2019.
