Sharif brothers get two good news the same day

ISLAMABAD: The Sharif brothers and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) got two good news on the same day – grant of 6-week conditional bail to the former prime minister and removal of the name of the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly from the Exit Control List (ECL).

Medical grounds became the primary cause of bail for Nawaz Sharif so that he gets his multiple serious diseases treated. Shahbaz Sharif’s name was struck off the ECL on merit as he has always appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) whenever called. “It is a fair order,” prominent constitutional expert Wasim Sajjad told The News when asked to comment on the Supreme Court ruling about Nawaz Sharif.

When contacted, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Kamran Murtaza told this correspondent that the ex-premier’s seven-year sentence has been suspended while his conviction stays. He said the conviction will go only if and when Nawaz Sharif will be acquitted.

“Usually, courts don’t attach conditions, and I have reservation over them. Either there is bail for the accused or convicts or no bail. The two conditions are that Nawaz Sharif can’t travel abroad and the bail is for only six weeks,” he opined.

Wasim Sajjad pointed out that the age factor of being nearly seventy years old and the known history of serious diseases were very important in accepting the bail request of the former prime minister. He believed that courts generally did not allow convicts to go abroad as they did not want them to be out of their jurisdiction. There are examples when the accused did not return from abroad when allowed by courts to depart for foreign countries, he said.

The lawyer said that generally there was not much room for bail in such cases, but Nawaz Sharif’s serious health condition prevailed upon the bench to give him this facility for a limited time. Additionally, he said, the former premier has been permitted to approach the high court for extension of bail if his health condition called for more treatment.

After the Lahore High Court (LHC) had granted bail to Shahbaz Sharif in the Ashiana Housing Scheme and Ramzan Sugar Mills cases, framed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), in mid-February this year, the government had placed his name on the ECL to bar his foreign travel.

As the apex court accepted Nawaz Sharif’s bail request, the PML-N leaders and workers burst into jubilation. Shahbaz Sharif tweeted: Grateful to Allah Almighty for acceptance of NS bail plea. May He give him health and long life!

Discussion quickly kick-started as to whose narrative – Nawaz Sharif’s or Shahbaz Sharif’s – proved helpful. However, it is clear that conscious political silence thereby lowering of temperatures produced results. But senior PML-N leaders continued their disapproval of government policies even after the acceptance of Nawaz Sharif’s bail.

The apex court order came a few hours after the LHC ordered deletion of Shahbaz Sharif’s name from the ECL. His lawyer stressed in the LHC that his client has always appeared before the NAB investigators when called and has never skipped any questioning.

Former prime minister’s lawyer Khawaja Haris requested the three-member bench led by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa for suspension of the sentence for eight weeks. “Nawaz Sharif should be given an opportunity to consult his doctors.”

The order said that five medical boards assessed his condition, and every one of them recommended that Nawaz Sharif be transferred to a hospital, and he needs an angiography. The Chief Justice remarked that deterioration of health and illness are the only grounds for suspension of sentence. The bench said that the defence’s entire argument rests on British doctor Lawrence’s letter to Nawaz Sharif’s personal physician Dr Adnan Khan, and the recommendations of the medical boards outweigh the importance of the letter.

Legal experts point out that the bail is extendable as per the court order if the former prime minister’s health demands more time for treatment after the expiration of the six-weeks. For this, he will have to go to the high court, and before that he will have to return to the jail after the end of the six weeks’ time.

It is unlikely that Nawaz Sharif will resume his political activities during these six weeks and is expected to focus on his treatment during this period. Nawaz Sharif was taken into custody on December 24 last when an accountability court of Islamabad imposed the seven-year sentence on him in a reference. On his request, he was shifted to the Kot Lakhpat jail of Lahore. Since then, he was taken out of the prison for a number of times for medical checkup and tests in different Lahore hospitals.