Former PM Abbasi granted bail to attend funeral of paternal uncle

An accountability court has ordered that former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi be released on parole on humanitarian grounds to attend the funeral of his paternal uncle.  

The court gave the decision in relation to a plea submitted to the court by Saeeda Abbasi, the sister of the former prime minister. The plea had asked the court to allow Abbasi to attend the funeral of the late Brigadier Muhammad Taj. 

According to reports, the investigating officer in the Abbasi case was summoned to the court for testimony in relation to the petition. After hearing the testimony, the court granted Abbasi parole. 

The court has granted Abbasi conditional parole, and asked district authorities in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad to provide fool-proof security to Abbasi so he can attend the funeral of his uncle. 

The court also directed the National Accountability Bureau to complete all formalities with regards to the parole. 

Earlier, an accountability court had extended the physical remand of former prime ministe Abbasi and former finance minister Miftah Ismail by 14 days in an ongoing probe into the liquefied natural gas (LNG) case.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had requested for an extension in the remand of the two PML-N leaders. The accountability approved NAB’s request for the 14-day extension and ordered the accused to be presented on September 26.