Islamabad: The Pakistan Supreme Court on Tuesday granted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif six-week bail for medical treatment within the country. A three-judge Bench, led by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, granted bail to Sharif on medical grounds against two surety bonds of 5 million Pakistani rupees each, reports Dawn news.
Khosa said Sharif will have to surrender himself to jail authorities once the bail period is over. If he fails to surrender, he will be arrested. Khawaja Haris, Sharif’s legal counsel, had requested for a 8-week bail. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had on Monday submitted an appeal opposing Sharif’s bail petition.
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 had filed a bail plea in the Islamabad High Court on medical grounds, but it was turned down last month. The court said “none of the reports (about Sharif’s condition) suggest that continued incarceration of the petitioner, in any way, would be detrimental to his life”.
