ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court will announce on Feb 25 its decision on a petition seeking release of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on bail on medical grounds.

An IHC bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani will announce the decision in the open court.

The bench had on Wednesday reserved the decision on the petition seeking the suspension of seven-year sentence awarded to Mr Sharif in the Al-Azizia reference.

In his concluding arguments, lead defence counsel Khawaja Haris Ahmed argued before the court that successive medical boards were of the view that Mr Sharif was suffering from multiple diseases and they recommended his further medical investigation and examination.

He said that doctors were not taking any responsibility of Mr Sharif’s treatment and this was the reason that since the middle of January, six different medical boards had been constituted to examine his health condition.

Ex-premier is seeking release on medical grounds in Al-Azizia reference

According to the counsel, it is was the fundamental right of Mr Sharif to get medical treatment from the doctor and the hospital of his choice.

He said that Mr Sharif was suffering from issues related to kidney, hypertension and diabetes, besides having cardiac problems.

The counsel told the court that the findings of the successive medical boards were consistent and none of these reports contradicted the petitioner’s stance.

He said that the report of a medical board had even suggested that Mr Sharif should undergo angiography, adding that in a previous angiography it was found that he was suffering from multiple complications that had led to his surgery.

He requested the court to suspend the sentence of Mr Sharif, enabling him to get timely treatment from the doctor of his choice.

The additional prosecutor general of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Jahanzeb Bharwana, on the other hand, opposed the suspension of the sentence, saying that the medical reports did not raise any apprehension that the life of Mr Sharif was in danger while being imprisoned.

He argued that the Supreme Court had in various cases, including the NAB’s appeal against the suspension of Mr Sharif’s sentence in the Avenfield properties reference, outlined criteria according to which the high court could not grant bail to any convict under such circumstances.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2019