Interior ministry likely to decide putting Shehbaz's name on ECL today

An important meeting will be held today (Wednesday) to make final decision.

LAHORE (Dunya News) – The Interior Ministry is expected to make a final decision regarding inclusion of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL) today (Wednesday).

According to sources, the interior ministry has received a formal application of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) seeking to include Shehbaz Sharif’s name on the ECL.

An important meeting will be held today (Wednesday) to make final decision in this regard.

Earlier today, the anti-graft watchdog had decided to move Supreme Court (SC) against Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision of granting bail to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and opposition leader in National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif in money laundering case.

The prosecution team has started preparation in this regard.

On Monday, the anti-graft wtachdog s Lahore chapter in a letter to NAB Headquarters had recommended to place the name of PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif on the Exit Control List (ECL), in money laundering case including co-accused.

A letter recommending putting the name of Shehbaz Sharif, the main accused in the money laundering reference, and all the other co-accused on the ECL had come to light.

In the letter it was recommended to challenge the Lahore High Court s decision against including the names of the accused in the ECL, in the Supreme Court.

The letter stated that a reference based on solid evidence against the accused was filed before the Lahore Accountability Court on August 20, 2020, on which court proceedings were underway.

“It should be requested on the behalf of NAB to the esteemed Supreme Court that the presence of accused Shehbaz Sharif in the trial pending in the accountability court is very important”, letter stated.

It is pertinent to mention here that on April 22, LHC had approved bail of Shehbaz Sharif in money laundering case over two surety bonds worth Rs5 million each.

Hudaibiya Paper Mills case

Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhary Fawad Hussain on Monday said that the federal government had decided a fresh probe into the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case.

Fawad Chaudhry in a statement on Twitter said that the legal team gave a detailed briefing to Prime Minister Imran Khan regarding the cases of PML-N president Mian Shehbaz Sharif.

He said that the government decided that the case of Hudaibiya Paper Mills needed a fresh investigation and in this regard, the concerned agencies are being asked to reopen the investigation.

Fawad Chaudhry said that the Hudaibiya case is the most important source to expose the corruption of the Sharif family. In this case, Shehbaz Sharif and PML-N leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif are the main accused, he added, alleging that the method used to launder money in this case was repeated later in every case. Therefore, it is very important to bring this case to a logical conclusion.