ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday dismissed the ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s petition seeking an extension in the bail granted to him on medical grounds.
A three-member bench headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, heard the plea.
As the hearing started, the defence counsel Khawaja Haris upheld that according to the rules, “his client cannot apply for bail unless he surrenders himself before the court”.
He then further pleaded before the court to extend his client’s bail for over eight more weeks.
The review petition had upheld that “unforgivable damage will occur if the bail is not extended”. To which, the top judge observed that “his [Nawaz Sharif’s] medical team can comment on the issue better [than anyone else]”.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sharif filed a petition in the apex court which requested that a review petition had been filed in the top court on its March 26 decision to release the former premier from jail for six-weeks for medical treatment. The petition also sought an extension in Nawaz’s bail until a decision on the review petition.
Sharif’s bail will expire on May 7.
A medical report was also submitted in the court which mentioned that the former premier has been suffering from cardiac issues, irregularity in blood sugar levels, and third-grade kidney disease, and his health is being monitored thoroughly.
In February last, Sharif was diagnosed as a patient with serious health problems and the specially constituted medical board that examined him recommended he be shifted to a hospital.
The six-member medical board examined him at the Kot Lakhpat prison after other doctors suggested that he had cardiac problems and needed to be hospitalised.
Later, the Supreme Court granted him six-week bail to undergo medical treatment and he is being examined at the Sharif Medical City hospital.
Accountability Judge Arshad Malik on Dec 24 convicted Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia reference and sentenced him to seven-year imprisonment.
