The Pakistan Supreme Court on Tuesday granted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif bail for six weeks on medical grounds, reported Dawn. He was released from Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail on Wednesday at 12.30 am.
Sharif’s counsel Khawaja Haris successfully argued that the former prime minister urgently needed angiography. In its order, the Supreme Court said several senior doctors had suggested that Sharif’s history of hypertension, cardiac and renal ailments may present a “mild-moderate risk” if he is to undergo angiography. The court said granting him relief for a limited period was a “reasonable request”.
The court asked Sharif to deposit two bail bonds worth Rs 5 million each. It also imposed certain conditions like the former prime minister cannot leave the country and will have to surrender after six weeks, failing which he will be arrested.
In January, a court in Pakistan had sentenced Sharif to seven years in jail and fined him $2.5 million (approximately Rs 17.5 crore) in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case. The Avenfield and Al-Azizia Steel Mills cases were among three cases filed by the National Accountability Bureau against Sharif and his children in September 2017 – the third being the Flagship Investment case in which the former prime minister was acquitted.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz workers welcomed the decision. PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif thanked the court for “meeting the merits of justice”.
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