APD | Former Pakistani PM Sharif released from jail on medical grounds

By APD writer Muhammad Sohail

ISLAMABAD, March 26 (APD) -- The Supreme Court of Pakistan order to release former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from jail on Tuesday on a bail for six weeks to obtain medical treatment within the country.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa granted bail to Sharif Tuesday on medical grounds.

The short order, read out by the chief justice, said that Sharif will have to surrender himself to jail authorities once the bail period is over. If he fails to surrender, he will be arrested.

In case Sharif wishes to apply for bail on medical grounds when he returns to jail after six weeks, he will have to consult the high court, the order said.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had yesterday submitted an appeal opposing Sharif's bail petition, asking that it be rejected.

NAB has stated that Sharif does not suffer from a life-threatening illness and no medical board has recommended that he undergo surgery.

It also argued that Sharif’s case does not fall in the category of a ‘hardship’ case.

Sharif has been provided all medical facilities in Pakistan, it said and added he wanted to make out the case citing threats to life so that he could travel abroad.

NAB asserted that if Sharif were granted bail, the former premier would dissociate himself from the jurisdiction of the court.

Sharif is serving a seven-year prison sentence awarded to him by an accountability court in a corruption case.

The former premier had filed a bail plea in the IHC on medical grounds but it was turned down last month, as the high court noted that "none of the reports [about Sharif's condition] suggest that continued incarceration of the petitioner, in any way, would be detrimental to his life".

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)