Lahore: A top Pakistani court Friday granted bail to jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who is undergoing treatment at a hospital after being diagnosed with an acute immune disorder.
The 69-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo was rushed to the Services Hospital in Lahore from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) office late Monday night after a massive drop in his platelet count.
A two-member bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC), headed by Justice Baqar Najafi, heard the petition of PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif seeking the release of his elder brother from the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on medical grounds in the money laundering case and accepted it.
However, Sharif will not be released immediately as the Islamabad High Court adjourned the hearing of his bail plea in a separate Al-Azizia steel mills case until Tuesday. The three-time premier’s lawyer Ashtar Ausaf told the court that his condition is ‘extremely serious’ and he should be granted bail.
NAB’s prosecutor did not challenge the defence’s plea, stating that since it is a matter of serious health issue of the former prime minister, it does not oppose his bail.
Nawaz Sharif has been under treatment at the Services Hospital since Monday night after his condition deteriorated in NAB’s custody. He is also serving a seven-year imprisonment in the Al-Azizia corruption case.
A 10-member medical board, headed by Services Hospital Principal Ayaz Mahmood, also submitted his report to the court declaring his Sharif’s ‘very serious’.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has also expressed concern over Sharif’s health, saying ‘political differences notwithstanding, my sincere prayers are with Nawaz Sharif for his health. I have directed all concerned to ensure provision of the best possible health care and medical treatment to him’.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) also took up a petition to release him on medical grounds in Al-Azizia Steel Mills case in which he was convicted for seven years in December last year and was kept in Kot Lakhpat jail here.
A two-member IHC bench, comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar, was informed that Sharif’s condition was not good as his platelets count was not stable. The court sought complete medical reports of Sharif and adjourned the hearing till October 29.
PTI