LAHORE: An accountability court on Monday issued bailable warrants for the arrest of a wife and a daughter of Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif for not appearing in the money laundering reference against the whole family.

Mr Shahbaz along with his lawyers attended the hearing while his son Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz was not produced by the officials since he had been tested positive for Covid-19 in the Kot Lakhpat jail.

Shahbaz’s daughter Jaweria Ali also skipped Monday’s hearing citing health reasons as she had visited her brother in jail to inquire after him.

Advocate Amjad Pervez, the defence counsel, requested the court to exempt the female members of the Shahbaz family from personal appearance since the trial was at its initial stage.

Presiding Judge Jawadul Hassan, however, observed that all the co-suspects were bound to appear in the trial proceedings.

A NAB prosecutor told the court that Shahbaz’s wife Nusrat, daughters Jaweria and Rabia had not joined the investigation while another son Suleman had already been declared an absconder.

At this, the judge issued bailable arrest warrants for Nusrat and Rabia with direction to them to ensure their appearance on the next hearing.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2020