Pak govt could not allow Maryam Nawaz to fly abroad without 'concrete reasons': Imran's aide

On Monday, a Pakistani court directed the federal government to decide within seven days about removing the name of Maryam from the no-fly list to allow her visit her ailing father in London.

Maryam, the 46-year-old daughter of Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, was placed on the no-fly list in August 2018 in an alleged corruption case.

Firdous Ashiq Awan, the special assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan on information and broadcasting, on Wednesday said that the government could not allow Maryam to fly abroad without “concrete reasons”, the Express Tribune reported.

"Why does she need to visit her ailing father in London when all of her relatives, including her siblings, are there to take care of him," she added.

Firdous hinted that the government was not willing to waive Maryam's travel ban over “weak grounds”, though her application was under consideration of the Cabinet's subcommittee, the report added.

"The law minister apprised the Cabinet that there is no law which allows convicts to travel abroad to visit their ailing relatives," she added.

Maryam has sought a one-time permission to travel abroad for six weeks from the date of departure. Another petition has been filed seeking release of her passport which is currently confiscated by the high court.

Before obtaining bail last month, she had been in custody following an investigation into the Chaudhry Sugar Mills corruption case.

The Lahore High Court on Monday sent Maryam's plea seeking the removal of her name from the Exit Control List to a review committee of the Ministry of Interior.

Sharif, 69, left for London from Pakistan on November 19 in an air ambulance for medical treatment after the Lahore High Court allowed him to travel abroad for four weeks. The four-week duration can be extended further on his doctors' recommendations.

According to PML-N spokesperson, Sharif is now set to be taken to the US for further treatment.

The three-time prime minister and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) PML-N supremo is suffering from multiple health ailments, including an immune system disorder causing low platelet count.