Nawaz given interim relief as Al-Azizia sentence stands, says Firdous

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Saturday the relief the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has provided to PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif is of interim nature as his sentence has not been annulled.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, she said the sentence has been suspended by the court on medical grounds and it is linked with all the health indicators of a patient.

She said the court took into consideration all factors while awarding the PML-N supremo the interim relief.

She said it is the prerogative of the court to approve the bail of the former prime minister.

Ms Awan said the power of awarding and suspending sentence handed to a criminal lies with the courts and that the government has nothing to do with it.

Earlier this evening, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif bail on medical grounds in the Al-Azizia case.

A division bench of the IHC comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani approved the bail of the PML-N supremo until Tuesday against two surety bonds of Rs1 million each.

An LHC bench, a day earlier, had granted bail to Nawaz in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.