ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday suspended sentence of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Al-Azizia reference for eight weeks and granted him bail on medical grounds.
IHC division bench comprising Justice Aamir Farooq and Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani held the hearing into PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif’s plea seeking suspension of his brother’s sentence in Al-Azizia reference.
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar also appeared before the court and presented a report regarding the health of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
He told the bench that former prime minister was satisfied with medical treatment being provided to him at Services Hospital.
The bench asked Punjab CM what he had done for other inmates of jails.
Punjab CM said that the Punjab government paid fine of 600 inmates and took several steps for jail reforms after personally visiting eight jails in Punjab. He said that Nawaz Sharif was just in their custody, facing the punishment on the order of the superior court. “We have nothing to do with it,” he added.
“We have provided the best possible healthcare facilities to Nawaz Sharif,” said Usman Buzdar adding, “We are equally concerned over the condition of other jail inmates,” he added.
After recording his statement, the bench allowed him to leave the courtroom. The Punjab chief minister appeared before the court under the strict security arrangements.
During hearing, Nawaz Sharif’s personal physician Dr Adnan told the court that former prime minister is in a critical condition, suffering from ‘Thrombocytopenia (low platelet count) & NSTEMI (heart attack),’ that has caused further complications for his kidneys.
He further told the court that a normal person’s blood platelets are more than 100,000 but Nawaz’ platelets were very low and so a medical board of highly qualified doctors was formed to review his health.
Dr Adnan further said that the PML-N leader complained of his cardiac issues while being treated for low platelets, adding when they try to cure one disease, other one appears.
He added that the former prime minister was fighting for his life because of low platelets as he also suffered a heart attack.
Medical Superintendent Services Hospital Dr Saleem said the former premier’s condition was still serious as he was suffering from multiple health problems.
Nawaz’ lawyer Khawaja Haris after hearing the doctors’ opinion argued before the court that according to the October 26’s report, Nawaz’ heart was not pumping blood completely and that was necessary that all medical treatment should be given under one roof. “Nawaz Sharif can continue serving his sentence if his health improves,” he added.
Additional Prosecutor General (APG) National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Jahanzaib Bharwana argued in the court that earlier in its judgment, the Supreme Court suspended Nawaz’ sentence for six weeks on health grounds and had set certain conditions.
He said Nawaz Sharif is allowed to seek treatment from doctors of his own choice and would not leave the country within those six weeks.
Jahanzaib told that court that not a single doctor has said that medical treatment of Nawaz Sharif is not possible in Pakistan. “Federal government has claimed that they had offered to get doctors from abroad for former prime minister,” he added.
To this, Justice Aamir Farooq inquired if suspension of the sentence of the convicted falls under federal or Punjab government domain.
NAB prosecutor replied that the issue is at the level of both, the federal and Punjab governments.
He suggested the court to suspend sentence of Nawaz Sharif under a timeframe like the Supreme Court had done and also review the former prime minister’s health report.
Khawaja Haris objected and argued that they are not seeking the suspension of sentence for five or six years.
To this, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani remarked that they would have given a verdict on the appeal had the arguments been presented, but so far the hearing on the judge’s video scandal has not even ended.
Justice Aamir Farooq inquired if President of Pakistan can issue pardon before the decision on appeal.
Khawaja Haris replied that president could exercise his powers anytime but the precedent is that the appeal’s decision should go through the legal forums.
Justice Mohsin remarked that apart from NAB neither the Punjab nor federal government’s position is clear on the issue. He added that federal and provincial governments have failed to determine their opinion on the matter, adding that both the governments are confused.
Justice Farooq remarked that the court had two options. “Either the issue can be sent to an executive or we could suspend the sentence in the given time-frame as suggested by the accountability bureau.”
Nawaz’s lawyer, however, rejected the notion of sending the issue to the executive.
Hearing the argument Islamabad High Court announced suspension of Nawaz Sharif’ sentence in Al-Azizia reference and granted bail for eight weeks on medical grounds.
In its verdict, the court ordered if Nawaz Sharif’ condition does not improve in eight weeks, the Punjab provincial government should be approached for a bail extension. The former prime minister was asked to submit two bail bonds worth Rs2 million each.
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