The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has submitted a new medical report of the party chief and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif before the Lahore High Court that raises questions regarding its veracity as the doctor who signed the report is based in the United States and not the United Kingdom.
Nawaz Sharif departed for London in November 2019 after being released from jail on account of his deteriorating health.
He was to undergo multiple surgeries in London but the procedures were postponed.
The PML-N says Nawaz Sharif was not admitted to the hospital because of the coronavirus epidemic. It also caused visa problems for him, according to Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
The PMLN has already submitted eight reports on Nawaz’s health. It submitted the ninth report on Tuesday.
The three-page report recommends Nawaz Sharif should not travel without first undergoing angiography. There could be serious threat to his life due to co-morbidities and the Covid-19 pandemic, it claims.
However, the report has been prepared by Dr Fiyaz Shawl, who works in Silver Springs, near Washington DC in the United States. He is an interventional cardiologist.
The earlier reports were prepared by London-based doctors.
CRITICISM: The medical report drew criticism from the government ministers and spokespersons, who claimed all the reports submitted so far were fake.
Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the Sharifs should refrain from sending fake reports to Pakistan. A US-based doctor has written a report on the health condition of Nawaz Sharif who is sitting in London, he added.
He said the report was “interesting” as it appears to recommend Nawaz Sharif should not go out anywhere but only to Hyde Park for a walk.
Minister of state Farrukh Habib said the report should have revealed where Sharif underwent the surgery.
He said the report claimed that Sharif would undergo treatment after the end of the pandemic, but the claim was unfounded. “Doctors in the United Kingdom have been going to hospitals and performing surgeries,” he maintained.
Habib said the report submitted before the court was another Qatari letter. He was referring to the letters sent allegedly by Qatar’s Sheikh Hamad bin Jassam to back the Sharifs’ narrative about London properties.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the PM on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill has launched a personal attack on Dr Shawl.
Gill tweeted a 2011 report by India TV which said that Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra was involved in an “ugly brawl” with Dr Shawl on an Emirates flight.
Priyanka had claimed that Shawl was filming her, while Shawl had said that he asked the actor to stop using her phone during the take-off.
The minister said that the Sharif family is sending a bunch of fake reports. “Hopefully the court will take notice of the fake report,” he added.
The following is the timeline of events leading to Nawaz’s travel abroad on medical grounds:
- On the night between October 21 and 22, 2019, Nawaz Sharif’s condition deteriorated and he was shifted to a hospital.
- On October 25, Nawaz Sharif was granted bail on medical grounds in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.
- On October 26, Nawaz Sharif was granted interim bail on humanitarian grounds in the Al-Azizia reference.
- On October 26, Nawaz Sharif suffered a mild heart attack, Punjab Health Minister Yasmeen Rashid confirmed the development.
- On October 29, Nawaz Sharif’s sentence was suspended for two months on medical grounds in the Al-Azizia reference.
- He was discharged from Nawaz Sharif Services Hospital and was shifted to Jati Umra.
- On November 8, Shahbaz Sharif requested the Interior Ministry to remove Nawaz Sharif’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL).
- On November 12, the federal cabinet gave Nawaz Sharif conditional permission to leave the country.
- On November 14, the PML-N challenged the condition of indemnity bond in the Lahore High Court.
- On November 16, the Lahore High Court allowed Nawaz Sharif to go abroad for medical treatment.
- On November 19, 2019, Nawaz Sharif left for London for his treatment.
