Shahbaz taken for tests to cancer hospital

By News Desk

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif was hospitalised on Thursday for a short duration in a Lahore cancer hospital for medical tests, a day after he sought permission from an accountability court to leave a hearing because he was not feeling well.

Shahbaz’s tests were conducted after a check-up at the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology Lahore (INMOL). After the tests, Shahbaz was discharged from the hospital and taken back to Kotlakhpat Jail. The PML-N leader is a cancer survivor.

According to state media, the opposition leader underwent a positron emission tomography (PET) scan and other tests. His personal physicians were present in the hospital.

The Punjab Health department on Wednesday constituted a medical board to examine the detained opposition leader on the directives of an accountability court. According to health department sources, the board will comprise six government doctors including Punjab Institute of Neuro Sciences (PINS) Prof Khalid Mahmood, who has been nominated as convener of the board, while Prof Saeed Ahmed, Prof Saima Ameer, Prof Rana Adil, Prof Khadija and Dr Abbas Khokhar are the members of the board. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested Shahbaz last year in a money laundering and assets beyond means case.

A day earlier, Shahbaz attended the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing scheme hearing in an accountability court, where he requested the court to allow him to leave, as he was not feeling well. At this, the court said if he had been on bail it would have been a “separate issue”. “Since you are in judicial custody, this facility cannot be granted as it is a legal requirement to record statements of the witnesses in your presence,” it added. However, Shahbaz’s counsel said his client’s presence was not necessary. To this, the court questioned whether ten accused would be allowed to leave if they adopted the same stance.