The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday accepted a request from the president of PML-N, Shehbaz Sharif, to hear today a petition to secure the bond of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the case of Al Azizia.
The bond statement hearing is expected to be held at night. A two-member bank consisting of the president of the IHC Supreme Court, Athar Minallah, and Judge Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani will hear the case.
During the appeal hearing filed today, the bank noted that a medical report had been filed in court during yesterday's hearing on bail and asked why an early hearing request had to be filed today.
Attorney Khawaja Haris claimed that Nawaz had suffered a "minor heart attack" last night and that his "life is in danger." A copy of a verdict issued yesterday by the Lahore High Court was also presented to the court, in which Nawaz had received a bond in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.
The IHC issued notices to Prime Minister Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Punjab, Usman Buzdar, and the President of the National Office of Accountability, retired Judge Javed Iqbal, and ordered them to send a representative to court today at 4pm .
Shehbaz had appealed to the IHC to grant bail to Nawaz in the case of Al Azizia, in which the latter is sentenced to seven years in prison, for medical reasons earlier this week. A bank of two IHC members had heard the bail request yesterday and after questioning Dr. Medical Superintendent (MS) of the Hospital of Services, Dr. Saleem Cheema, who is part of the medical board that treats Nawaz, the superior court suspended the hearing until Tuesday.
In the appeal filed today, Shehbaz urged the court to accept the bail statement due to Nawaz's "extremely critical condition." He said the plea, which was heard yesterday, did not mention that on the night of October 24, Nawaz had suffered an angina attack "as a direct result of administering the drug to increase his platelets."
Yesterday, Lahore High Court, where Shehbaz had submitted a similar statement, had granted bail to Nawaz in the ongoing case of Chaudhry Sugar Mills.
The former prime minister was rushed to the Institute of Medical Sciences Services (SIMS) earlier this week after his personal physician warned of his deterioration in health.
On Tuesday, hospital doctors described Nawaz's condition as "serious" despite the transfusion of three mega platelet units within a few hours of admission.
According to medical tests on Tuesday, the former prime minister's platelet count "had dropped from 16,000 to a critical level of 2,000" when he was taken to the hospital on Monday night, which led to board members doctor to look for "immediately." platelet transfusion to save his life, "said one of the board members.
After a three-day fight, a six-member medical board, headed by the director of the Hospital of Services, Ayaz Mahmood, on Thursday diagnosed the reason for the deterioration of Nawaz's health.
"It is acute immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), a bleeding disorder, in which the immune system destroys platelets," said a board member Dawn. He said the treatment was given to the former prime minister in light of his diagnosis. "We hope your condition improves in a few days," he added.
Deposits delivered
Meanwhile, an accountability court in Lahore issued Nawaz's release orders in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case after Saiful Mulook Khokhar of PML-N filed two bail bonds worth Rs10 million each. The accountability judge Ameer Mohammad Khan issued the orders.
Additional report by Rana Bilal.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1513038/ihc-to-take-up-plea-for-nawazs-bail-later-today-after-shehbaz-requests-urgent-hearing