Setback for Nawaz as SC rejects 'permanent bail' plea

Apex court says letters from foreign doctors only show they are ready to treat former PM

ISLAMABAD: The apex court has dismissed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's review petition seeking permanent bail on medical grounds and the permission to go abroad for treatment.

The former premier, who has been serving a seven-year prison term at Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail since December 24, 2018, was granted a six-week bail on March 26 to get medical treatment. However, Nawaz Sharif filed a civil review petition against the order on April 27.

The petition requested the court to allow Nawaz get medical treatment abroad, claiming that the former PM was suffering from acute anxiety and depression that would lead to 'sudden death'.

It said the medical professionals seeing the former premier in Pakistan recommend that he should be treated by his regular practitioners in the United Kingdom. It also said that there was a difference between the apex court's March 26 oral order and the written order.

However, a three-judge special bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa and comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Yahya Afridi, on Friday dismissed the petition after a after 86-minute-long hearing.

The CJP noted that the SC on March 26 gave Nawaz six-week bail so that he might get life-saving treatment but the entire bail duration was spent in conducting tests to ascertain state of his health.

"We gave him six-week bail – as recommended by five medical boards and 31 doctors – for angiography, but the time was spent conducting evaluations and test. The conduct of the petitioner shows there is no imminent threat to his life and the plea was based more on apprehensions," the CJP added.



He conceded that new medical reports did show that Nawaz's health was worsening and not improving. "However, it is possible for Nawaz to be treated in prison, as the superintendent would be empowered to send him to hospital as and when required."

The CJP made it clear that the SC cannot review its order on the basis of new medical reports regarding Nawaz's health. Anyone who applies for bail on medical grounds claims their life is in danger, he said.

"If that route is taken, the review will become an unending process," he said, adding that a review does not entail reconsideration and, rather, is a process wherein the court only corrects its errors.

Regarding Nawaz Sharif's stress levels, the CJP noted that it was natural for every prisoner to be under stress in jail. The CJP also referred to a case wherein the SC had cancelled a convict's interim bail on the grounds that he had failed to undergo the operation that he purportedly required.

The SC bench noted that the medical opinion shared by foreign doctors only suggested that they had just offered their services for treatment through letters. Those letters are not enough for us to accept their opinion, the CJP said.

Another member of the bench, Justice Yahya Afridi, said matters must be dealt in accordance with the law and relief should not be afforded on the opinion of individual doctors. The court should only rely on opinions proffered by medical boards, he said.

Earlier, the CJP defended the SC order for interim bail saying it is common practice as hundreds of convicts have been granted bail on medical grounds.



"Even death sentences have been suspended and convicts have been given bail on medical concerns, so it is surprising to see the courts being maligned in this instance," said the CJP.

About Nawaz's counsel Khawaja Haris's objection with regard to difference between the SC's March 26 written order and the oral order, the CJP said oral order is not the order as the court had issued the written order on the same day.

Haris had objected that in the orally announced order in open court, it was said that in case Nawaz required an extension in his bail he could seek that from the Islamabad High Court. However in March 26 written order this portion of the order as read out in open court was omitted.

"We do not suggest remedy to any litigant as we left it to you [Haris] to evolve future course of action for the extension of bail," the CJP told Nawaz's attorney. Earlier, on query of the bench, Haris said Nawaz got medical treatment for hyper tension.

When best cardiac institutes are available in Pakistan then why Nawaz wants to go abroad for treatment, the bench asked.   In the wake of the SC decision, Nawaz Sharif will now have to surrender himself to jail authorities on May 7 (Tuesday), the day when his six-week bail term will expire.

A senior PML-N leader said there was no need to approach SC seeking permission to go abroad. "In view of oral observations of the bench, there is lesser chance that Nawaz may get relief from the high court."

On Friday, authorities beefed up security around the apex court premises and special security passes were issued for those wanting to attend the hearing. Advocates and journalists who cover the top court were exempted from passes.