Nawaz Sharif's passport will expire tonight, says Sheikh Rasheed

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's passport will expire tonight, said Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed on Tuesday. 

The minister was speaking at a news conference where he said that as a rule, the person whose name is on the ECL cannot be issued a new passport nor can his existing passport be renewed. 

However, Rasheed said that if the former prime minister wanted to return to Pakistan, a permission will be granted to him within 72 hours. 

"No one is stopping Nawaz Sharif from returning to Pakistan," said the minister. 

He criticised the former prime minister for taking "unfair advantage" of the high court's decision to let him seek medical treatment abroad.

Rasheed said that Sharif had "deceived" everyone by claiming that he needed to go abroad for medical treatment but had not sought it.

The Awami Muslim League chief said that all he could do about the entire matter is issue the PML-N leader travel documents. "That is all I can do," he said. 

The interior minister, however, admitted that he was among those in the cabinet who voted in favour of letting Sharif go abroad to seek medical treatment.

"I won't lie, I was among those who voted for him to be allowed to fly abroad," he said. "

The PTI government has already approached UK authorities to extradite Nawaz Sharif. 

Special Assistant to PM Imran Khan on Accountability Shahzad Akbar had said earlier that it is up to the British government to decide on the extradition of the former premier.

The PML-N supremo was granted an eight-week bail on medical grounds in October 2019 and a month later, he was allowed to travel abroad for treatment for four weeks. The government maintains that Nawaz was permitted on condition that he would share details of the medical treatment which he didn't opt for.