Nawaz Sharif to go back to jail as bail expires today

F.P. Report

LAHORE: The disqualified prime minister Nawaz Sharif will return to Kot Lakhpat Jail today (Tuesday) after the expiry of his six-week bail in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference.

According to details, Nawaz Sharif will surrender himself to jail authorities after Iftar. He is set to arrive at the prison in a rally, and Maryam Nawaz will lead the solidarity rally of party workers from their residence in Jati Umra to the jail.

The decision was made by the party’s central executive committee.

PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb informed that Maryam will accompany her father, and will be present in his car. The party has decided that she will remain with her father along with Hamza Shehbaz until he is taken into custody by the jail authorities.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa last week rejected a petition by Nawaz for an extension in the bail granted to him on medical grounds in the Al-Azizia reference.

The court also rejected the former premier’s plea to allow him to travel abroad for treatment.

Nawaz had been granted bail on medical grounds by the apex court on March 26 for six weeks. On April 25, he had submitted a review petition in the Supreme Court seeking a permanent bail.

Nawaz, thrice prime minister of Pakistan, had been in jail since December 2018 following his conviction in Al Azizia corruption reference in line with the Supreme Court’s July 2017 verdict. An accountability court on December 24 had found the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader guilty in the Al Azizia Steel Mills reference and sentenced him to seven years in prison.