ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday approved the interim bail of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif until Tuesday in the Al-Azizia reference.
The petition was heard by a two-member divisional bench that included IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani. The court had excluded Justice Aamir Farooq, as he is on a holiday.
PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif had approached the court for an early hearing regarding the disposition of former premier Nawaz Sharif’s sentence today.
In today’s hearing, the court accepted the bail plea until Tuesday against two bail bonds worth Rs2 million.
During the hearing, Additional Prosecutor General of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) said that the authority has no objection to the bail of Nawaz Sharif on medical grounds.
‘Yes or no answer’
During the hearing, the IHC chief justice said that if the government opposes the bail plea then the court will dismiss the petition for Nawaz’s bail. “During this time period, if anything happens to Nawaz Sharif then the government and the NAB will be responsible,” remarked the court’s top judge.
He further said that ministers have been trying to place the entire matter on the court’s jurisdiction, which is why ‘a yes or no’ answer is needed.
Following which, the AAG NAB responded that the federal government has nothing to do with this entire matter and they ‘cannot take any responsibility’. The court ordered the AAG to take clear directions from Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar.
‘Provincial govt empowered to dispose sentence’
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, while hearing the case earlier, remarked that the bench was set to hear the case on Tuesday. He added that the provincial government is empowered to dispose off a prisoner’s sentence, therefore the issue should have never come before the court.
