Al-Azizia reference: IHC to hear Nawaz's bail plea on medical grounds today

Dunya News

Two-member bench comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani will hear the case.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – A two member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) will start hearing of the bail plea of ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Al-Azizia reference on medical grounds today (Tuesday), Dunya News reported.

The two-member bench comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani will conduct hearing on the petition filed by Nawaz Sharif through his counsel Khawaja Haris on Monday.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is currently serving a jail term of 7-years at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail on being proven guilty in Al-Azizia reference filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Chairman NAB and Kot Lakhpat Jail superintendent were made parties in the plea while the recommendations of doctors hailing from the United Kingdom and the United States have also been attached with the plea.

According to the reports attached with the bail plea, doctors recommended that Nawaz Sharif’s condition is life-threatening and his treatment is not possible in the prison. The reports also said that former premier is facing kidneys and heart issues.

Former premier wanted to get himself treated abroad from the same doctors who treated him in the past, the plea read.

Earlier, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif returned to Kot Lakhpat Jail in the wee hours of Wednesday (May 8) in a rally of his party workers and leaders after expiry of six-week bail in a corruption case.

Flexes and banners were erected across the city to show solidarity with the PML-N supremo and the PML-N leadership had directed the party workers to gather at the Shanghai Flyover near Ferozpur Road for the solidarity rally.

Sharif was released from jail on March 27 on medical grounds after the apex court suspended his sentence in the Al-Azizia reference and granted him bail for six weeks.

The PML-N supreme leader was sentenced to seven years in prison and was fined Rs1.5 billion and $25 million in the Al-Azizia corruption reference by an accountability court on December 24, 2018.

However, he was acquitted in another reference related to Flagship Investments.

Besides, he was also disqualified from holding any public office for the period of 10 years. The disqualification will go into effect following his release from jail after serving the seven-year sentence.