ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court will hear an application filed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for his bail on medical grounds, next week.
Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa ordered on Wednesday that the plea filed by imprisoned Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader be fixed for a hearing sometime next week.
The apex court set March 19th as the hearing day and a three-judge bench would take up the case. The elder Sharif had moved apex court twice for an early hearing of his application.
Sharif’s plea for bail was rejected by the Islamabad High Court on February 25, which observed that none of the medical reports about Sharif’s condition suggested that his continued incarceration would in any way be detrimental to his life; the former lawmaker had filed the petition seeking bail in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference.
In the fresh petition, it is stated that his health has deteriorated, pleading the court to fix the appeal against the Islamabad High Court order.
The fresh plea comes amid repeated denials by the former premier to be shifted to any hospital for treatment of heart disease despite requests by the Punjab government and his family members.
The elder Sharif was sent to seven years behind bars in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference by the accountability court in Islamabad in December last year.
Nawaz Sharif was also convicted in the Avenfiled reference by the accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir, however, he was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court.
Sharif’s plea for bail on medical grounds in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference conviction was turned down by the Islamabad High Court following which moved the Supreme Court and requested an early hearing of the case.
The three-time prime minister has been relocated between Kot Lakhpat Jail and hospital multiple times on the recommendation of the medical board.
He was moved back to the Kot Lakhpat jail from the Jinnah hospital a few weeks ago.
