Stepping out ‘may be fatal’ for Nawaz Sharif

Ex-PM’s lawyer submits his client’s medical report to Lahore High Court

LAHORE:

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s doctors have advised that he should not step outside as contracting Covid-9 could be fatal for him, according to the PML-N supreme leader’s latest medical report submitted to the Lahore High Court by his lawyer on Tuesday.

The Sharif family patriarch is in London undergoing treatment for complicated coronary artery disease and other ailments.

According to the report submitted to the court by Nawaz’s lawyer Amjad Pervez, the former three-time premier is already suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney and heart disease and should not leave his house as a Covid-19 infection could prove to be deadly for him.

It further stated that blood supply to the former premier’s heart was still not normal. Sharif has been advised to continue his physical activities and remain in constant touch with his doctors.

Nawaz , who was serving a seven-year jail term after his conviction in a graft case in December 2018, was granted interim bail in October 2018 in view of a debilitating health condition and was later also granted rare permission to fly to London to get medical treatment on November 17, 2019

He has been in London since November last year despite the Punjab government April order to immediately surrender to authorities and complete his jail term.

The LHC had allowed Sharif to travel abroad for medical treatment for four weeks without having to sign an indemnity bond suggested by the federal government.

The court observed that it was not fair for the government to place conditions after the Islamabad High Court had granted bail to the former PM.

The LHC presented its own draft for the undertaking, and handed it over to lawyers of both sides for review.

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz’s brother, had submitted a written undertaking about the former prime minister's travel and return to Pakistan.

In January this year, the LHC had directed the federal government to avail an “appropriate remedy” after examining the medical reports of Nawaz.

An accountability court has recently started the process to declare Nawaz a “proclaimed offender” in a case pertaining to bending rules of Toshakhana – the official gift depository –for their personal benefit.

The court ordered putting up an advertisement for Nawaz's summons in the court premises. It gave the PML-N supreme leader one last chance, ordering him to appear before the court on August 17 to face the reference.