ISLAMABAD: Leader of Opposition in National Assembly (NA) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said that he was facing a difficult time in jail.
Shehbaz arrived at the Parliament House to attend the session of the lower house of the parliament. A team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) escorted Shehbaz to Islamabad from Lahore via motorway.
Responding to a question after arriving at the Parliament House, the PML-N president said that a jail is a jail, adding that there are always hardships in jail. He said that undergoing medical examinations is his right but somehow they always get delayed.
PML-N Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq held a meeting with the party president and inquired about his health. PML-N spokeswoman Marriyum Aurangzeb was also present in the meeting. The meeting also discussed parliamentary affairs and NAB cases.
A NAB court on Monday approved a one-day transit remand of the opposition leader so that he could attend the NA session. Earlier, a request for Shehbaz’s transit remand was submitted by Prosecutor Waris Januja on behalf of the jail superintendent. The plea stated that the PML-N president has to be flown to Islamabad to attend the NA session scheduled for Monday. The court approved the jail superintendent’s request and granted one-day transit remand of the PML-N president.
NA Speaker Asad Qaiser had earlier directed NAB and concerned authorities to bring Shehbaz to attend the session on a daily basis under the rules. “Presence of Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif during the said session is necessary, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by Rule 108 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of the Business in the National Assembly 2007, the speaker has been pleased to summon Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif,” Qaiser had stated in a production order issued by the NA Secretariat.
Shehbaz Sharif is in custody due to an ongoing NAB probe in the case of Punjab Land Development Company and Lahore Development Authority (LDA).
