Punjab CM summoned over bail for ex-PM Sharif

The Islamabad High Court has directed the chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Usman Buzdar, to appear before the court on Tuesday in a case pertaining to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s bail on medical grounds.

An Accountability Court in Islamabad, on December 24, 2018, sentenced Nawaz Sharif to seven years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs5 billion (Dh117.387 million) in the Al Azizia case.

The High Court however recently granted interim bail to the ex-PM until October 29.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, asked why the matter was brought before the court when the prison department rules, as well as the relevant sections of the criminal procedure code, empowered provincial authorities to suspend the sentence of a convict on medical grounds.

‘Shifting responsibility’

Chief minister Buzdar has been directed to appear before the court and explain why the matter was brought before the court.

“Had the federal and the provincial governments performed their duties, the matter would not have been brought before the court,” the judges observed.

Justice Minallah said the institutions were trying to shift responsibility onto the judiciary while the Punjab government under the Prison Rules could suspend the sentence and release Sharif on parole.

“Under such a situation, the matter should not be moved to the court,” he said.