Court suspends ailing Nawaz Sharif’s jail sentence for eight weeks but bars him from leaving Pakistan
Former Pakistan prime minister was moved to hospital from jail as 'his life is in danger'
Dubai: Three-time former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif has been barred from leaving the country to seek medical treatment. However, Islamabad High Court on Tuesday confirmed his bail suspending his jail term for eight weeks on medical grounds.
Nawaz Sharif will have to go back to the jail after eight weeks to resume his seven years sentence under a corruption case unless his bail is extended. However, his doctors told the court that ‘Sharif’s condition is serious’.
A two-member judge bench comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Mohsin Akhtar Kayani announced the verdict on the plea filed by former Chief Minister of Punjab Shehbaz Sharif seeking the suspension of his brother’s sentence in the case.
The verdict
In its verdict, the high court ordered that if Sharif’s condition does not improve in eight weeks, then the Punjab provincial government should be approached for a bail extension. The court asked Nawaz Sharif to submit two bail bonds worth Rs2 million. The court in the same case had granted the former premier bail on Saturday, Geo Tv reported.
According to Nawaz’s personal physician, Dr Adnan, the former prime minister is in a critical condition, suffering from ‘Thrombocytopenia (low platelet count), heart and kidney complications.
During the hearing, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar appeared before the court and presented a report regarding the health of the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Buzdar told the IHC that the former premier trusts the medical care being provided to him. He added that the PML-N supreme leader was under treatment at the hospital and they will take care of him.
What happened to Sharif
Meanwhile, the former premier’s personal physician Dr Adnan Khan told the court that a normal person’s blood platelets are more than 100,000 but Nawaz’s platelets were very low, which is why a medical board of highly qualified doctors was formed to review his health.
He added that the former prime minister was fighting for his life because when the doctors gave him prescriptions for low platelets he got a heart attack.
After hearing the doctor’s opinion, Nawaz’s lawyer Khawaja Harris told the court that due to the former premier’s angina, doctors cannot treat all his ailments.
The lawyer said if they want to ensure that Nawaz completes his sentence then he should be allowed to get treatment from doctors of his choice. He added that if the former prime minister’s health improves then he can continue serving his sentence.
Not allowed to leave the country
Meanwhile, Additional Prosecutor General for NAB, Jahanzaib Bharwana, said that the Supreme Court suspended Nawaz’s sentence for eight weeks on health grounds and had set certain conditions.
He added under the conditions it was decided that the former premier would not leave the country within those eight weeks and seek treatment from doctors of his choice in Pakistan.
Bharwana further said that no doctor has said that Sharif cannot be treated in Pakistan.
Unstable health condition
Earlier during the hearing, the court had asked doctors, who are part of the medical board overseeing Nawaz’s treatment, if it was possible for Nawaz to recover without staying in the hospital. The doctors had responded in the negative and said that the PML-N supremo required medical supervision at all times.
The board had informed the court that Nawaz had been given 80 injections in order to bring his platelet count — which was reported to have dropped to dangerous levels — to normal.
“He (Nawaz) is still unstable,” Dr Khan Khan had said. “I have never seen him in such an alarming condition.” He had said that the former premier’s blood pressure had shot up after dinner on Monday night as well, Dawn news reported.
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor, during his arguments, had said that the anti-corruption watchdog would not oppose bail on humanitarian grounds.
Bail background
Last week, Shehbaz Sharif had appealed the IHC to grant bail to Nawaz in the Al Azizia case on medical ground. He is serving seven-year jail term on corruption charges.
Nawaz Sharif was rushed to the Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) last week after his personal physician raised an alarm about his deteriorating health.
On October 22, doctors at the hospital had termed Nawaz’s condition as ‘serious’ despite the transfusion of three mega units of platelets within hours of his admission.