LAHORE: A banking court on Monday directed Tariq Shafi, the cousin of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, and others who are suspected of defaulting on a bank loan to appear before it in person on Aug 24. The summon was announced after Judge Muneer Ahmed approved petitions of the suspects for exemption from personal appearance in Monday’s hearing and directed them to show up on the next hearing. The counsel for multiple different banks, which instituted the case against the accused of allegedly defaulting on hefty loans, stated before the judge that Ittifaq and Kashmir sugar mills obtained loans in excess of Rs700 million from his clients. It was submitted that Shafi and other accused were served multiple notices by the banks in this regard but they failed to generate any response. The court, therefore, was requested to order action against them as per relevant laws.