Sharif seeks release from jail on medical grounds

Islamabad, May 21 (IANS) Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif filed a fresh petition in the Islamabad High Court seeking release from prison on medical grounds in a corruption case, the media reported on Tuesday.

The petition filed on Monday sought suspension of Sharif's seven-year sentence and subsequent grant of post-arrest bail on medical grounds, Dawn news reported. 

Citing medical reports, it claimed that the condition of the former leader was critical and he required a stress-free environment for his cardiac treatment as Sharif, according to doctors, was suffering from numerous diseases that could prove to be life threatening.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had rejected Sharif's review petition seeking bail on medical grounds and permission to go abroad for treatment and ordered him to surrender before the court as soon as his bail period ended. 

Sharif on May 8 returned to the Kot Lakhpat jail after being out on bail for six weeks owing to illness.

Sharif was sentenced in December 2018 to seven years in prison in the Al Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference. He was jailed for failing to explain the ownership of the steel factory in the name of one of his children.

The case was filed in the wake of the apex court's July 28, 2017 order in the Panama Papers case.

In July 2018, Sharif was sentenced to 10 years in prison in another case of corruption related to a four-storey luxury property in London while his daughter was given seven years.

The three-time Prime Minister was disqualified from holding office in 2017 for not revealing remuneration he received from a company owned by a son, an irregularity revealed after the publication of the Panama Papers.