Pakistan SC grants ex-PM Nawaz Sharif bail on medical grounds

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday granted ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif bail for six weeks to get medical treatment within the country.
A three-judge bench headed by chief justice Asif Saeed Khosa heard Sharif’s plea against last month’s verdict of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) which had turned down his request for bail on medical grounds. A day earlier, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan’s anti-corruption watchdog, had submitted an appeal in the apex court opposing Sharif’s bail petition.
The former three-time PM has been awarded a seven-year prison sentence by an accountability court in the Al-Azizia steel mill reference, a case related to the ownership of property in Saudi Arabia.He is currently serving his incarceration in Lahore’s Kotlakhpat jail. The accountability court had also disqualified him from holding any public office for a period of ten years.
During the hearing for the bail application, Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Haris said that his client’s life was at risk. “The former PM is suffering from heart ailments and requires an angiography which is not simple but rather complicated. He is also suffering from a kidney disease which is in its third stage and his blood pressure and blood sugar level need to be monitored regularly,” Haris told the court.
Following the arguments, Justice Khosa and Justice Yahya Afridi questioned the NAB prosecutor who said that Nawaz “is being monitored 24 hours”. “Nawaz has no life-threatening disease,” the additional prosecutor said.
Justice Afridi, however, asked, “If there is no threat to his life then why is the medical board not conducting his angiography.” Justice Sajjad Ali Shah added, “You kept shifting him from one hospital to another. No report said that Nawaz refused to get treated.”
After holding consultations with the judges, Justice Khosa directed that Sharif be granted bail for six weeks to get medical treatment within Pakistan. He will not be allowed to leave the country, the chief justice added.
The court directed the former prime minister to submit two bail bonds amounting to Rs10 million. In addition, the court allowed Sharif to approach high court for an extension of bail term.
The chief justice, however, added that Sharif was a convict and even if the court grants him bail for a few weeks, he will have to return to jail.