The Islamabad High Court dismissed on Monday the bail application of the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia Steel Mill corruption case.
IHC’s division bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani dismissed the petition seeking Sharif’s release on bail on medical grounds. “We find the instant petition to be without merit and the same is accordingly dismissed,” the bench ruled.
Sharif, who is serving sentence of seven years imprisonment had sought suspension of the sentence solely on medical
grounds.
In the judgment, the court noted that the petitioner has a history of various cardiac complications, he is a chronic kidney patient and has high blood pressure and diabetes. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, the judgment read, initially when petition was filed, the medical condition of the petitioner was not too serious and on 15.01.2019, when his medical condition deteriorated, only then, present writ petition was filed.
“All the medical reports of the petitioner confirm that he has the above history and is also recommended for medical treatment,” the court stated in the judgment, “In such like cases, medical reports and opinion of doctors is of utmost importance and none of the reports suggest that continued incarceration of the petitioner, in any way, would be detrimental to his life.”
The 9-page detailed order notes that perusal of Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978, shows that Superintendent Jail has the
authority to release a prisoner suffering from serious illness. However, the court ruled, the parameters prescribed in the referred Rules are not attracted in the facts and circumstances of present case.
In December 2018, an accountability court convicted Sharif in the Al-Azizia corruption reference and he was moved to Adiala Jail. Upon request, he was later shifted to Kot Lakhpat jail to serve out the seven-year imprisonment sentence.
Read the judgment here:
