LAHORE    -   An accountability court in La­hore on Tuesday sought argu­ments on applications filed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Shar­if and his son Hamza Shehbaz seeking permanent exemp­tion from personal appear­ance in the trial proceedings of a reference filed by the Na­tional Accountability Bureau. Accountability Court Judge Qamaruz Zaman conducted the proceedings. However, the prime minister and chief min­ister Punjab did not appear and their counsel filed appli­cations for one-time exemp­tion from personal appear­ance. The court was informed that the prime minister had to preside over an important meeting in Islamabad while the Punjab chief minister was also busy due to an important official meeting. Subsequently, the court allowed the applica­tions for one-time exemption and directed the counsel to advance arguments on appli­cations for permanent exemp­tion on the next date of hear­ing, Sept 7.