Nawaz can be arrested if not given transit bail: minister

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar said Tuesday that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could be arrested if he failed to secure transit bail while coming back to Pakistan.

In a press conference, Tarar said that if the party supremo received transit bail, then he could not be arrested upon arrival in Pakistan. The law minister said if Nawaz failed to secure transit bail, then he would have to surrender himself and courts should provide relief to people who turn themselves in voluntarily.

Tarar added that ex-premier Benazir Bhutto had also secured transit bail when she came back to Pakistan. Speaking about former military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s return to the country, Tarar said that law would take its course and “he will be facilitated in line with the rules and regulations".

In 2020, Islamabad High Court’s Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the PML-N supremo after he failed to return to Pakistan following the expiry of his bail.

The Lahore High Court (LHC), in November 2019, allowed Nawaz to go abroad for medical treatment and in the same month, he left for London — where he resides to date. His party has reiterated that his return is conditional to the doctor’s approval.