Punjab government submits letter in IHC rejecting Nawaz’s bail

F.P. Report

LAHORE: The Punjab government on Saturday submitted the letter rejecting former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s bail extension at the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

The high court will once again decide on the matter concerning the former prime minister’s bail. Sharif had been granted bail on medical grounds by the Islamabad High Court for eight weeks in October 2019. He had been serving a sentence in the Al-Azizia reference when he was granted bail, and had subsequently left Pakistan for London for medical treatment.

The letter stated that Sharif had failed to satisfy the Punjab government’s committee on medical grounds regarding his health. The committee sent its recommendations to Punjab government which rejected the former prime minister’s bail extension. 

Last month, Punjab health minister Yasmin Rashid had said that the former prime minister had not provided his updated medical reports to the provincial government. She criticised the PML-N leader and said that pictures of him dining out in London had cast doubt about his health condition. 

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Thursday that the government had written a letter to the UK authorities, asking them to deport the former prime minister. 

“The letter to bring a foreigner back home has been sent”, she had said, referring indirectly to the former prime minister. 

PML-N Vice President and Nawaz’s daughter Maryam has filed a petition at the Lahore High Court (LHC) to have her name removed from the Exit Control List (ECL) so she can take care of her father in the UK. However, several government officials, including federal minister Faisal Vawda have said that the PML-N leader will not be allowed to leave the country as she is a convict.