Former Pak PM Nawaz Sharif granted bail in 2nd corruption case till Oct 29

Nawaz Sharif (Photo: IANS)


The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday granted bail to ailing former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on medical grounds in the Al Azizia corruption case till October 29.

The IHC’s move came a day after the Lahore High Court (LHC) granted bail to Sharif also in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills corruption case, Dawn news reported.

Saturday’s development came shortly after National Accountability Bureau (NAB), in its response to the IHC cited humanitarian grounds and said that it has “no objections to bail being granted”.

The 69-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo was rushed to the Services Hospital in Lahore from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) office late on Monday night after a massive drop in his platelet count.

According to the sources, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) told Dawn news that Sharif will continue his treatment at Lahore’s Services Hospital “as he is not in a condition to be shifted anywhere”.

The family has expressed satisfaction at his treatment there, saying that it was “headed in the right direction”, the sources added.

Earlier on Saturday, a doctor said that Sharif suffered an angina attack, while dismissing reports that the former premier had a heart attack.

According to sources at the Services Hospital in Lahore, Nawaz was tested positive for certain tests which confirm that he suffered a minor cardiac arrest, Geo news reported.

On Tuesday, doctors had termed his condition as “serious” despite the transfusion of three mega units of platelets within hours of his admission.

According to the medical tests carried out the platelet count of the former premier had “dropped from 16,000 to a critical level of 2,000” when he was brought to hospital.

Nawaz Sharif, who had been shifted from the Kot Lakhpat Jail where he is serving seven-year imprisonment in the Al-Azizia corruption case to the NAB’s Lahore building following his arrest in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case, hospitalised on Monday night after a decline in his platelet count.

In August, two government hospitals had denied a specialised cardiac ambulance facility for emergency medical cover to Nawaz Sharif in the Central Jail.

(With inputs from agency)