A Pakistani court on Friday summoned former premier Nawaz Sharif and his family members to appear before it on November 8 in connection with three corruption cases against them.
Special accountability court of judge Khalid Mehmood in Rawalpindi issued the order over the corruption cases filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against Sharif, now living in exile in Saudi Arabia, and his kin. It also adjourned the matter till November 8.
The NAB accused Sharif and members of his family of being involved in money laundering and misuse of officials powers in matters involving the Hudebia paper mills, Ittefaq Foundry and Riawind land. The court directed them to appear before it at the next hearing.
At the last hearing, deputy prosecutor general of NAB Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta had asked the court to defer the hearing till November as the NAB had information that Sharif and other accused would return to Pakistan by then.
The accountability court accepted Bhutta's application and issued summons to the accused to appear before it at the next hearing.
Bhutta told the court that the cases were filed by the NAB against Sharif and the other accused after 1999 and were therefore not covered under the recently promulgated National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), which grants amnesty to political figures in graft cases registered between 1986 and 1999.
Sharif returned to Pakistan on September 10 after the Supreme Court ruled that he could come back home, but the government deported him to Jeddah within hours of his arrival.
President Pervez Musharraf said Sharif cannot return to the country for three more years under an agreement he had signed with the government. Media reports have suggested Sharif plans to again return home after November 15, when a caretaker government is to be formed to oversee the upcoming general election.