Surety bonds from Nawaz is legal formality: Firdous Awan

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan has said that the demand for surety bonds from former premier Nawaz Sharif was a legal formality.

Speaking to reporters, Firdous Ashiq Awan said that the government did not demand a surety bond from former premier Nawaz Sharif, it was just a legal formality.

Awan said that Prime Minister Imran Khan allowed Nawaz Sharif to travel abroad for treatment on humanitarian grounds.

Also read: Nawaz Sharif given ‘conditional’ permission to travel abroad

According to Awan, the name of Nawaz cannot be removed from the Exit Control List (ECL).

Earlier on Wednesday, Federal Minister for Law Farogh Naseem, while addressing a press conference in Islamabad announced that it would allow the former prime minister Nawaz to go abroad for medical treatment for four weeks but after submitting surety bonds.

Farogh Naseem said, “This permission will be subject to Nawaz Sharif or Shehbaz Sharif submitting an indemnity bond to the tune of roughly Rs7-7.5 billion to the satisfaction of additional secretary to the Ministry of Interior.”

Also read: Shehbaz Sharif likely to address Azadi March in Islamabad today

PML-N, however, rejected the government’s offer made on medical gro­unds and to pay Rs 7 billion as surety bonds equivalent to the fines imposed on Nawaz by an accountability court in two corruption cases in which he was convicted.