Islamabad HC adjourns ailing Nawaz Sharif's bail plea till Feb 12

A Pakistani court on Wednesday adjourned till February 12 the hearing of the bail application by jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a corruption case. A two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) heard the application filed by 69-year-old Sharif to grant him bail due to bad health, after his conviction and arrest in the Al-Azizia Steel Mill case on December 24.

The three-time prime minister is serving seven-year imprisonment in Al-Azizia Mills case. He has been behind the bars since December 24. Various medical reports of Sharif, who is undergoing tests and treatment for multiple heart-related complications, were presented in the court.

The court ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to file its reply on the next hearing on February 12. Sharif was arrested and initially taken to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi but after one day was shifted to Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore.

His party Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) has been demanding that Sharif should be shifted to London for better treatment. "Sharif always had treatment in London as he is best managed there," PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said.

The PML-N's reported request to shift him to London has triggered speculation that it is keen to strike a deal with the government. Three corruption cases - Avenfield properties case, Flagship investment case and Al-Azizia steel mills case - were filed against the Sharif family by the NAB in 2017 following a judgment by the Supreme Court that disqualified Sharif in the Panama Papers case in 2017. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail in the Avenfield case but acquitted in Flagship case. He is already on bail in the Avenfiled case which was about properties in London.

(With inputs from agencies.)