He has been living in London for the last two years since being let out of jail.
As per the Interior Ministry, the former premier has been issued a passport with a 10-year validity. According to media reports, the passport was issued on April 23 and it was processed in the “urgent” category.
The newly sworn-in Minister for Interior, Rana Sanaullah, said recently that a diplomatic passport was Nawaz Sharif’s right which will be issued to him soon.
In a conversation with the media after being sworn into Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s new cabinet, he regretted that “it is unfortunate that a person who has been the Prime Minister three times is being deprived of national citizenship.”
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had also declared a petition challenging the issuance of a diplomatic passport to the former premier as inadmissible, and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the petitioner.
The ruling was announced after being reserved by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah. The petitioner had contended that Nawaz should not be issued a passport on the grounds that he was an “absconding convict”.
Earlier this month, PML-N leader Mian Javed Latif had claimed that Nawaz Sharif is expected to head back to the country after Eid, Express Tribune reported. (IANS)