Daily Times

Minister for Information Chaudhry Fawad Hussain Tuesday said the federal cabinet had decided to file a case against PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif for giving a fake affidavit for return of Nawaz Sharif after his treatment abroad.

“Nawaz Sharif went abroad through fraud and his activities in London are making a mockery of the state of Pakistan and its laws,” he said while talking to reporters in Islamabad after attending the federal cabinet meeting.

Fawad said it was the federal cabinet’s decision to allow Nawaz Sharif to go abroad, subject to submission of a surety bond of worth Rs7 billion but his younger brother approached the court and submitted a personal guarantee, which ensured Nawaz’s departure from the country.

The minister said Nawaz Sharif did not undergo any treatment in London despite passage of some 17 months clearly showing his mala-fide intent of going abroad to evade accountability, says a news report.

He said the medical reports of Nawaz Sharif sent to the Punjab government from London did not match to the previous reports which were rejected by the Punjab government. Nawaz Sharif’s health was a total concoction and not based on his real illness, he added.

He said the Sharif family was contacted twice by the Pakistani embassy in the UK on the orders of the High Court, but they refused to provide any report.

Nawaz Sharif’s medical reports had to be shared with Pakistan Embassy doctors, he added.

He said such tactics by the Sharif family proved that Shahbaz Sharif was fully involved in the fraud of sending Nawaz Sharif abroad on the pretext of his medical condition.

He said the government will approach the Lahore High Court (LHC) to seek Shehbaz Sharif’s disqualification for submitting a ‘fake affidavit” and over his failure to bring Nawaz Sharif – back to Pakistan.

“Shahbaz Sharif filed a fake affidavit which is a violation of Article 63 of the Constitution and he should also be penalized for this offence”, Fawad remarked.

At the outset of the federal cabinet meeting, a detailed briefing was given to the forum on the Murree tragedy and informed that the Punjab government had set up a high-level inquiry committee to probe the incident, he said.

Fawad said the cabinet was informed that some 164,000 vehicles entered Murree in only five days, while 22 people were died in five vehicles stranded between Kuldana and Barian.

He said trees fell on the road due to heavy snowstorms which resulted in long queues of vehicles. Machinery and helicopters were difficult to reach the area due to heavy snowfall.

Many people left their vehicles on the roads and went on foot to leave the area, whereas some people fell asleep with heaters on in their vehicles, he added. According to the preliminary investigation, he said the deaths occurred due to increased level of carbon monoxide in vehicles. The prime minister had expressed deep sorrow and regret over the Murree tragedy.

The minister said during the past three years, the government had revolutionized domestic tourism and it developed 13 new tourist resorts whereas in the past over 70 years no new tourist sites were developed.

He said the provincial governments, authorities, and local administrations were needed to be prepared for influx of tourists. After the partition, no attention was paid for the purpose, he added.

Chaudhry Fawad said the present government had tried to promote tourism as a sector.

Before Imran Khan became PM, he visited Kumrat valley and the pictures released by him went viral, and a large number of people thronged the valley.

He said Pakistan Army and civilian agencies carried out rescue efforts and made possible evacuation of millions of people within 24 hours which was highly commendable. Meanwhile, the information minister said that the cabinet after being briefed about the Covid-19 situation has expressed the resolve to not impose lockdowns this time around, keeping the country’s economic situation in view. Explaining that vaccine worth $2 billion has so far been used, Fawad hoped there would be no need for a lockdown this time around.