Pak SC hears Sharif’s bail plea

Islamabad: The Pakistan Supreme Court on Tuesday heard former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s petition against an Islamabad High Court (IHC) order rejecting his plea for bail on medical grounds in a corruption case.
Sharif was on December 24, 2018, sentenced to seven years in prison by an anti-corruption court in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case for owning a steel factory abroad without disclosing its ownership.
The former leader’s appeal before the Supreme Court seeks his release on bail after suspending the execution of the December 2018 sentence, Dawn news reported.
The appeal contends that the IHC’s February 25, 2019, order is in violation of his fundamental right to life.
The order held that none of Sharif’s medical reports suggested that his continued incarceration would be detrimental to his life in any way, adding that he had been hospitalised time and again since January whenever he had complained about being indisposed.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Khosa, while citing Sharif’s medical reports, observed that the former Prime Minister was suffering from a kidney stone, hepatitis, diabetes, heart problems and high blood pressure.
Justice Khosa said that the reports were being reviewed to ascertain how long Sharif had been suffering from these ailments.
The Supreme Court issued notices to the National Accountability Bureau and adjourned the hearing till March 26. The apex court will announce the judgment on the same day, the Express Tribune reported.
Sharif, 69, is serving a seven-year imprisonment in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case at the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore since December 2018. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo has suffered four angina attacks last week, according to his daughter Maryam Nawaz . The Sharif family is complaining that the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan is not providing health facilities to the former premier who has serious health complications. The bench headed by Chief Justice Khosa also comprises of Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Yahya Afridi will take up the petition.
The former premier had twice submitted requests to the apex court for an early hearing of his application. In January, he filed application in the IHC for bail on medical reasons as he developed heart-related medical complications in jail but it was dismissed.
Three corruption cases – Avenfield properties, Flagship investment and Al-Azizia steel mills – were registered against the Sharif family by the anti-graft body in 2017 following a judgment by the Supreme Court that disqualified Sharif in the Panama Papers case in 2017. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the Avenfiled corruption case in July 2018 which was related to his properties in London.
Later he was given bail in September. In December, the accountability court convicted him in the Al-Azizia graft case but acquitted him in the Flagship corruption case. (Agencies)