Islamabad, Oct. 9 (PTI): Pakistan's ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif failed to appear today before an anti-graft court which set October 13 as the date of his indictment even as his daughter and son-in-law were granted bail in the Panama Papers case.

Maryam Nawaz, 43, along with her spouse, former army captain Muhammad Safdar, returned to Islamabad late last night from London to appear at the Accountability Court.

Safdar was arrested on his arrival as the court had issued non-bailable arrest warrant against the former Pakistan army captain.

Both appeared separately in the accountability court of Judge Muhammad Bashir here.

Sharif and his two sons were absent during the hearing as they are in London to attend to his wife Kulsoom who is battling throat cancer.

Sharif had attended the previous two hearings but flew to London last week to see his ailing wife, who underwent a third surgery.

The court accepted the bail applications of Maryam and Safdar and postponed the hearing till October 13, according to court officials.

Sharif's lawyer Khawaja Harris asked the court to adjourn hearing for 15 days with commitment that Sharif would also appear. The court rejected the plea announced that it will indict the accused during the next hearing.

The court also ordered to start the process of declaring Sharif's sons - Husain and Hasan - proclaimed offender as they have failed to appear before it so far.

The court also decided to conduct separate trials of Husain and Hasan from Sharif and his daughter and son-in-law.

Amid tight security, Maryam, 43, who is being groomed as Sharif's political successor, appeared in the court for the first time today.

She was ordered to submit a surety bond of Rs 50,000 against a non-bailable arrest warrant. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials informed the court that Sharif's sons Hassan and Hussain had left the country and were deliberately avoiding court appearances.

The NAB lawyers asked the court to send Safdar to jail on judicial remand but the court granted him bail and ordered him to pay Rs 50,000.