IHC seeks Nawaz Sharif’s medical record to decide on bail plea

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday adjourned hearing of a bail petition filed by former premier Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia reference case on the basis of medical grounds till February 6.

Reportedly, a two-member bench comprising of Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani heard the petition that has sought bail and suspension of Sharif’s sentence with a reasoning that he has been suffering from a heart disease.

Meanwhile, the court issued notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and ordered the jail superintendent to submit all medical reports of Sharif on the next hearing.

Advocate Khwaja Harris informed the court that a new medical report was obtained on January 22.

The court inquired from the defence if any medical treatment was recommended by the medical board in the previous medical report.

Harris read both medical reports, and told the court that Sharif has been suffering from a kidney disease.

Earlier, advocate Khwaja Harris submitted the petition together with a medical report that recommended shifting Sharif to a hospital for treatment.

The report – composed by a special medical board that examined Sharif – has mentioned that he has already undergone three heart surgeries.

The petition has pleaded with the court to suspend the accountability court s verdict till the final decision on the appeal in the Al-Azizia reference case, and grant bail to Sharif on medical grounds.

The accountability court on December 24 convicted Sharif in the Al-Azizia reference and sentenced him to seven years in prison, and acquitted him in the Flagship reference case filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Mega corruption scandal.

In the 131-page judgement written by the accountability court judge Arshad Malik, reasons of his conviction were mentioned. It said that the prosecution has successfully established all the ingredients of the offence of corruption committed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, and that he has failed to provide legal money trail of his assets.

Later, Sharif was arrested from the premises of the accountability court.

After spending a night at the Adiyala Jail in Rawalpindi, he was shifted to the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore.

Earlier, the NAB had filed three cases — Avenfield, Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment, and offshore companies, including Flagship Investment Limited — against the Sharifs on the Supreme Court’s directives in the July 2017 Panamagate verdict. The trial commenced later in September that year.