ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court will today take up former premier Mian Nawaz Sharif’s petition seeking his release from Kot Lakhpat jail on medical grounds.

A division bench of the IHC comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani will hear Nawaz Sharif’s petition moved through his counsel Khawaja Haris Ahmed.

In the petition, the former prime minister has sought suspension of 7-year sentence awarded to him by the accountability court Judge Arshad Malik in Al-Azizia case and his release on medical grounds.

Sharif made the Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the accountability judge and the Kot Lakhpat jail’s superintendent as respondents.

According to the petition, under Section 342 of the criminal procedure code (CrPC), the former premier has refuted all allegations levelled against him and taken a categorical stance that the prosecution had miserably failed to discharge the onus placed on it to prove any of the allegations contained in the charges framed against him.

It stated that Sharif had been accused of establishing Al-Azizia/Hill Metal Establishment in the name of his children. The court, however, convicted Nawaz by linking him with these companies because of the transactions into his account from the HME. The former premier through his legal team challenged the conviction on January 1 and filed a petition seeking suspension of the sentence which after a preliminary hearing has been fixed for February 18.

He adopted in his new petition that the petitioner had now come to know that the appeal and the writ petition filed by him had been fixed by the office for February 18.

The petition said that Sharif felt pain in both his arms and numbness of toes. Given his medical history, the matter was reported to the jail superintendent who referred him for medical examination to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore, and the Allama Iqbal Medical College/Jinnah Hospital, Lahore.

It added that a special medical board was separately constituted to evaluate the health condition of the petitioner. Although the medical examination of the petitioner was conducted by each of the special medical boards on January 16 and a preliminary report, in the case of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore, and a final report, in the case of the Allama Iqbal Medical College, was prepared on January 16 and 17, respectively; none of these reports, or the results of the lab tests on which the same are based, were shared by the respective board or their heads with the petitioner or his personal physician till January 22 while final report of PIC, Lahore, was made available on January 24.

It further said, “The medical history of the petitioner, showing that he had been suffering from ischemic heart disease and coronary artery bypass grafting, hypertension, T2-diabtes mellitus, and chronic kidney disease”.

“In the light of the findings given and recommendations made by the two special medical boards in their respective reports as reproduced in the foregoing paragraphs, the petitioner prays for the suspension of his sentence and release on bail pending final decision of his appeal on purely medical grounds as a case of extreme hardship,” maintained the petition.

Sharif said that the petitioner is ready and willing to furnish the surety bonds to the entire satisfaction of this court, undertakes to appear before this court on each and every date of hearing fixed in appeal filed by him.

Therefore he prayed to the court that during pendency of the appeal filed by him against the judgment dated December 24, 2018, this court may suspend the execution of the sentences passed against him and he be released on bail.