Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday dismissed a petition challenging the possible issuance of a diplomatic passport to PML-N leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The court dismissed the petition stating that it is “based on unreliable material and is, therefore, frivolous”.
Advocate Naeem Haider Panjutha had filed a petition in the IHC based on media reports that said Nawaz Sharif was being issued a diplomatic passport on the instructions of his brother and newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The petitioner’s counsel argued Nawaz Sharif “was convicted and has been declared as an absconder by a competent court” and therefore cannot be allowed a diplomatic passport.
The petitioner reasoned that Nawaz Sharif “is a court absconder who was convicted” by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court for corruption and hence it would be a violation of law, “a mockery of the justice system and disgrace to the nation if a diplomatic passport is issued to a convict.”
The court noted that the petitioner could not provide any order, direction or notification issued by the federal government to corroborate his claim. “It is noted that no evidentiary value is attached to the press reports and no reliance can be placed on it when a person claims a legal right on its basis. It is settled law that courts do not decide cases on the basis of press reports,” the IHC chief justice observed.
The court also said an absconder has to be dealt with in accordance with the law, adding that “it is obligatory on a convicted person who has been declared an absconder to surrender to the order of imprisonment.”
Pakistan’s three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif was barred by the Supreme Court in 2017 from holding public office and was sentenced to 10 years in prison on corruption charges. He went abroad for medical treatment days after he was released on bail.
