The Supreme Court (SC) accepted on Tuesday the bail petition of incarcerated Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia case and allowed his release for six weeks.
A three-member bench headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa granted bail to the former prime minister on medical grounds against two surety bonds of Rs5 million each. The top court ruled that Sharif will have to surrender after six weeks.
During the hearing on March 19, the bench had issued notices to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) regarding Sharif's bail plea. Adjourning the hearing, the SC had said it will announce its verdict on March 26 (today).
On December 24, an accountability court Judge Arshad Malik handed down seven years of imprisonment as well as a fine of Rs1.5 billion and $25 million to Sharif in the Al-Azizia corruption reference. However, the accountability court acquitted Sharif in the Flagship reference.
Sharif had then filed a petition in IHC seeking his bail on medical grounds. However, the IHC upheld the accountability court’s verdict and ruled that Sharif will have to serve his jail term. Following the dismissal of his petition, the former PM approached the SC and pleaded that it review the high court’s order.
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