A Lahore-based accountability court on Friday accepted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s petition seeking exemption from appearing before it in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills(CSM) corruption case on medical grounds.

Addressing to the media, Sharif’s lawyer Amjad Pervaiz said that a new medical certificate had been submitted to the court, The Express Tribune reported.

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According to the counsel, “Nawaz Sharif is under clinical supervision.”

“He will undergo a medical examination which is scheduled to take place in the last week of February”, the councel added.

In light of the scheduled procedures, Sharif was not fit to travel to Pakistan, Pervaiz said, adding the former leader “will face trial when he recovers”.

After reviewing the medical certificate, the court exempted the former premier from appearing before it and adjourned the hearing till February 28.

Earlier this year, Punjab Health Minister Yasmin Rashid had said that the relief granted to the former leader for medical treatment abroad had expired and he should submit an updated report regarding his health to the provincial authorities.

On January 4, an accountability court allowed Sharif exemption from personal appearance on medical grounds in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills corruption case till the next hearing.

The former premier was admitted to the hospital for a cardiac procedure.

Last year, in November, Sharif underwent a range of tests, including PET and CT scan, at a hospital in the UK to find out the exact cause behind his low platelet count.

On October 25, the Lahore High Court (LHC) had bailed Nawaz Sharif indefinitely on medical grounds in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case, days after he was taken to Services Hospital from Kot Lakhpat Jail after the deterioration of his health.

Sharif was sentenced to seven years in prison in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference on 24 December 2018. Rs1.5 billion and the US $25 million fine, a disqualification of 10 years from holding any public office was part of the sentences awarded to the former premier.

Sharif had also secured bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case from the Lahore High Court on the same ground.