An accountability court (AC) in Lahore granted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s petition for permanent exemption from appearance in the Ramzan Sugar Mills reference on Monday.
Earlier, in court, the prime minister stated that he had never skipped the hearing of any corruption reference against him and had always appeared in court whenever he was summoned.
PM Shehbaz said he wanted to emphasize the point that he had a busy schedule. “The purpose of filing the petition is that as prime minister of the country I have a lot of responsibility on my shoulders,” he said, adding, “There are times when I have to travel abroad, meet with the officials of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and foreign dignitaries.”
In Ramzan Sugar Mills’ reference, he said had he wanted to benefit the mills that actually belonged to his sons, he could have done it long ago. “The nullah in question was built following approval by the then Punjab cabinet,” he added.
