Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Usman Buzdar, to appear before the court on Tuesday in a case pertaining to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s bail on medical grounds.

An Accountability Court in Islamabad, on December 24, 2018, sentenced Nawaz Sharif to seven years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs5 billion (Dh117.387 million) in the Al Azizia case.

The High Court however granted interim bail to the ex-PM until October 29.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, expressed its wonder why the matter was brought before the court when the prison department rules, as well as the relevant sections of the criminal procedure code, empowered provincial authorities to suspend the sentence of a convict on medical grounds.

The written order states that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had no objection to Nawaz Sharif’s bail similarly the federal government and the government of Punjab had not raised any objection.

However, chief minister Buzdar has been directed to appear before the court and explain why the matter was brought before the court.

“Had the federal and the provincial governments performed their duties, the matter would not have been brought before the court,” the judges observed.

The court’s attention was drawn by additional attorney-general Tariq Khokkhar to the fact that the federal government had nothing to do with the matter and it “cannot take any responsibility”.

On this the court ordered the Punjab additional advocate-general Faisal Chaudhry to take clear directions from CM Buzdar.

Justice Minallah said the institutions were trying to shift responsibility onto the judiciary while the Punjab government under the Prison Rules could suspend the sentence and release Sharif on parole.

“Under such a situation, the matter should not be moved to the court,” he said.

The court also directed TV anchors Hamid Mir, Kashif Abbasi, Sami Ibrahim, Amir Mateen and Muhammad Malick to file written replies to the contempt notice for breaking news of an alleged “deal”.

According to the court, the registrar office brought the matter to the court’s attention that these anchors were giving news that a deal has been signed between Sharif and the government.

The court asked the anchors to substantiate their claim if a deal was reached between Sharif and the government.

The bench also ordered the chairman of the electronic media watchdog, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), to appear in person on the next date of hearing and file a reply why no action was taken against the TV anchors for airing statements against the judiciary.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday had filed an application for the early hearing of a bail petition, which the CJ Athar Minallah accepted and fixed for hearing for the same day.