Al-Azizia Reference: IHC dismisses Nawaz Sharif's bail plea

An IHC bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani announced the judgment

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday dismissed a bail petition filed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on medical grounds in Al-Azizia reference case.

An IHC bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani announced the verdict while the detailed judgment was uploaded on the website of the IHC.

The nine-page judgment mentioned that “where a prisoner is receiving medical treatment in hospital or in jail, he would not be entitled to the concession of bail; the petitioner has been hospitalized time and again since January, 2019, whenever he made complaints about his indisposition. In fact the reports of Board of Doctors and various Teams constituted, are indicative of the fact that petitioner is receiving best possible medical treatment available to any individual in Pakistan. The referred fact cannot be regarded as an ‘extraordinary situation’ and/or case of ‘extreme hardship’. Almost, every ailment has potential of being detrimental to one’s life but not, if the same is properly treated and taken care of, therefore, being indisposed per se cannot form basis to be released on bail.”

Another point of the judgment read “Finally, we find that objection taken by learned counsel for the respondents regarding maintainability of instant petition, is of no substance. The medical condition of the petitioner deteriorated on or about 15.01.2019 and it is only there-after that instant writ petition was filed. The case law cited by learned counsel for National Accountability Bureau is not attracted in the facts and circumstances of instant case.”

The judgment ended with remarks “For the above reasons, we find the instant petition to be without merit and the same is accordingly dismissed.”

Earlier on February 20, the bench reserved the decision regarding the suspension of seven-year sentence awarded to Sharif.

His defence counsel Khawaja Haris had told the court that the medical boards examining Sharif’s health have recommended his further medical examination after concluding that he has been suffering from various diseases.

Furthermore, he told the court that his health has been deteriorating over time while suffering from kidney, hypertension, diabetes and cardiac issues, and an angiography was required for his treatment.

He pleaded with the court to suspend the sentence of Sharif to enable him to acquire timely treatment from the doctor of his choice. He stressed that it was his fundamental right to get medical treatment from the doctor and the hospital of his choice.

Khawaja Haris also claimed that the provincial government of Punjab had hidden certain facts from the court in the earlier hearing.

Contrarily, the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) prosecutor strongly opposed the arguments put forward by Khawaja Haris and said Sharif’s medical reports did not suggest that his was in danger while being imprisoned.

Meanwhile, Sharif has been awaiting angiography at the Jinnah Hospital in Lahore.

In this regard, recommendations of a special medical board formed by the government have been sent to the Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for further proceedings in the matter.

The accountability court on December 24 convicted Sharif in the Al-Azizia reference, and subsequently sentenced him to seven years in prison while acquitted him in the Flagship reference cases filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in mega corruption scandals.

In the 131-page judgement written by the accountability court judge Arshad Malik, reasons of his conviction were mentioned.

It said that the prosecution had successfully established all the ingredients of the offence of corruption committed by Sharif, and that he had failed to provide legal money trail of his assets.

Later, Sharif was arrested from the premises of the accountability court.

After spending a night at the Adiyala Jail in Rawalpindi, he was shifted to the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore.

Earlier, the NAB had filed three cases - Avenfield, Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment, and offshore companies, including Flagship Investment Limited - against the Sharifs on the Supreme Court’s directives in the July 2017 Panamagate verdict.

The trial commenced later in September that year.