IHC raises question over Nawaz Sharif’s bail, status of cases

ISLAMABAD: Hearing a petition of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif against declaring him absconder in Toshakhana case, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday raised question over the former prime minister’s bail and asked about the status of cases against him.

A two-judge bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Aamer Farooq heard the petition. Sharif’s counsel Barrister Jehangir Khan Jadoon told the court that his client’s bail was still applicable and that he was not having copy of the Punjab government’s order on the matter at this moment.

“The bail granted to Sharif by IHC is ineffective now after which apparently he has become absconder,” Justice Farooq remarked. The court asked the former premier’s lawyer to present the Punjab government’s notification permitting his client to proceed abroad for medical treatment. The IHC chief justice recalled that it was not the court that struck Sharif’s name off the Exit Control List (ECL) but the government, adding the high court gave the former prime minister permission to go abroad for treatment for eight weeks.

During the hearing, the bench said two appeals of Sharif were pending in the court and inquired about the status of eight-week bail. Chief Justice Minallah further inquired if Sharif’s bail had expired or not.

“We have told Punjab government with regard to looking into the matter of bail extension. The bail granted to the accused by this court has become ineffective. If your bail is cancelled then what is the status of the accused. Apparently as far as the decision of this court is concerned the accused has been declared fugitive,” the court remarked.

Advocate Jadoon told the court that the Punjab government had extended the bail,

adding he did not have a copy of the order as yet. Chief Justice Minallah asked whether Sharif’s sentence was upheld or not. The court sought record of the matter and adjourned the hearing until Thursday.

The PML-N supremo, who is currently in London, had moved the petition through Barrister Jadoon citing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman, judge of the accountability court-III and the investigation officer in the Toshakhana reference as respondents.

The petitioner stated that the IHC granted him bail on October 9, 2019 on medical grounds yet the accountability court initiated the process of declaring him a proclaimed offender under Section 87 of the criminal procedure code (CrPC).

The former premier said he went to the UK on November 19 last year for medical treatment with the approval of the government. Nevertheless non-bailable arrest warrants were issued in the case depriving him of his constitutional and fundamental rights as he didn’t conceal himself from any process of the law, he added.

He requested the high court to declare the arrest warrants illegal and allow him to join the proceeding of the accountability court through his pleader.

The accountability court of Islamabad had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Sharif over his failure to attend the trial proceeding in the case and had also initiated the process to declare him a proclaimed offender.