IHC grants interim bail to Nawaz Sharif till Tuesday

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday granted interim bail on humanitarian grounds to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif till Tuesday in Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference.

The IHC decision comes a day after the Lahore High Court granted bail to the PML-N supremo on medical grounds in ongoing Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

A division bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhter Kiyani granted the interim bail against two surety bonds worth Rs2 million each on a miscellaneous application filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif for early hearing of Sharif’s bail plea.

The court directed federal and provincial governments and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit clear answers to the court regarding the bail petition of Sharif on medical grounds.

During the proceedings, additional attorney general and additional prosecutor general NAB submitted that the federation and the NAB had no objections over the bail on grounds of human rights.

The chief justice remarked it was the responsibility of the Punjab government to implement the law related to prisoners. He said the Punjab government could itself grant bail against surety bonds to any prisoner whose life was at risk.

The bench observed the prisoners of death sentence were also entitled to get bails on human rights grounds.

Earlier, the bench sought reply from federation, NAB and Punjab government on the bail petition of Sharif. The court directed the three respondents to tell the bench whether they opposed the plea or not. If the respondents took responsibility of Sharif’s health and opposed the bail plea then this court would dismissed the petition, the chief justice remarked.

The chief justice said all the responsibility should not be shifted on shoulders of the court. If the three respondents opposed the petition then they had to submit affidavit for taking responsibility of Sharif’s health. Additional Advocate General (AAG) Qasim Chohan submitted that the Punjab government was not able to oppose or support the petition so far. Additional attorney general adopted the stance the federal government had no role in the matter.

The interior secretary said the government could not take responsibility regarding the health of the former prime minister. He prayed the court to decide the petition on merit. Justice Kiyani said the state was responsible for protection of lives and property of all citizens of the country.

The chief justice asked the secretary interior that whether he opposed the petition to which the senior official said this time he could not give any statement regarding the matter.

Justice Minallah said such type of petition should not have come to the court as it was the powers of a provincial government to suspend the sentence of any prisoner on medical grounds. Earlier, the petitioner’s lawyer pleaded before the bench that Sharif’s health had been deteriorated further since last day. He said the former prime minister had suffered from minor heart attack, adding his client’s life was at risk.

It may be mentioned here a medical team of Services Hospital, Lahore had informed the court on the last hearing that a five-day treatment cycle of the former prime minister would conclude on Monday and after that it would be able to submit a detailed medical report of the prisoner.

Earlier in the day, Punjab Health Minister Yasmin Rashid told journalists former premier Nawaz Sharif suffered a minor heart attack, however, she added, his heart muscles were not damaged.

The provincial health minister said Sharif’s medical condition had been identified and he was under treatment. She urged the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to avoid politics over Sharif’s health.

She informed that Sharif’s platelets had increased to 45,000 and his blood pressure and sugar were in control, adding upon recommendations of a medical board, the ex-premier was being given medicines for rehabilitation.

She disclosed Sharif had suffered angina pain the previous night. She added the PML-N supremo’s bone marrow functioned normally and his previous and current ECG report did not show any difference. The provincial health minister said Sharif had been suffering from heart ailments for a long time. She added the PML-N supremo was satisfied with the treatment.