Nawaz Sharif granted interim bail in Al-Azizia reference

ISLAMABAD: Three-time former Prime Minister of Pakistan was granted bails in Al-Azizia reference by the Islamabad High Court on Saturday. The court granted the bail plea until Tuesday against Rs 2 million surety.

A two-member divisional bench headed by Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani allowed the bail application on medical ground.

The court had excluded Justice Aamir Farooq, as he is on a leave.

Yesterday, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif had approached the court for an early hearing regarding the disposition of former premier Nawaz Sharif’s sentence today.

Additional Prosecutor General of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) said that the authority has no objection to the bail of Nawaz Sharif on medical grounds.

During the hearing, the IHC chief justice said that if the government opposes the bail plea then the court will dismiss the petition for Nawaz’s bail. “During this time period, if anything happens to Nawaz Sharif then the government and the NAB will be responsible,” remarked the court’s top judge.

He further said that ministers have been trying to place the entire matter on the court’s jurisdiction, which is why ‘a yes or no’ answer is needed.

Following which, the AAG responded that the federal government has nothing to do with this entire matter and they ‘cannot take any responsibility’.

The court ordered the AAG to take clear directions from Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, while hearing the case earlier, remarked that the bench was set to hear the case on Tuesday. He added that the provincial government is empowered to dispose off a prisoner’s sentence, therefore the issue should have never come before the court.

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani asked why was there an urgency in holding an early hearing into the case. To this, the lawyer of the petitioner informed the court that the former premier had suffered a minor heart attack, and his health had further deteriorated after Friday.

After a brief hearing, the court issued notices to the Punjab chief minister, NAB chairman and other parties in the case. The court also stated that the parties should appoint a representative and directed them to appear before the court later in the day.

Earlier in the day, the former Punjab chief minister had also attached the 11-member board’s special medical board’s report in his petition. In his plea, PML-N President Shehbaz had stated that the hearing should be held today due to the former premier’s deteriorating health condition.

In view of the former prime minister’s health condition the IHC has decided to hear the petition today.

It is pertinent to mention that the Lahore High Court on Friday had approved the bail of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case. The bail was approved on medical grounds.

On December 24, 2018, an accountability court had sentenced Nawaz to seven years in prison in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference and acquitted him in the Flagship reference.

The court ordered that Nawaz be “sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a term of seven years along with a fine of Rs1.5 billion and US$25 million”.

In a short verdict announced, the court said there was concrete evidence against the former premier in the Al-Azizia reference and that he was unable to provide a money trail in the case.

 

 

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