Nawaz granted interim bail till Tuesday on human rights grounds.

ISLAMABAD -- The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Saturday granted former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif an interim bail till coming Tuesday on human rights grounds in Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference verdict.

The IHC's division bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhter Kiyani granted the interim bail against two surety bonds worth Rs2 millions each on a miscellaneous application filed by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz's (PMLN) president Shahbaz Sharif for early hearing of Nawaz Sharif's bail plea.

The court directed federal and provincial governments and NAB to submit clear answers to the court regarding the bail petition of Nawaz Sharif on medical grounds.

During the course of proceeding, additional attorney general and additional prosecutor general National Accountability Bureau submitted that the federation and NAB had no objections over the bail on grounds of human rights.

The chief justice remarked that it was the responsibility of Punjab government to implement the law related to prisoners.

He said the Punjab government could itself grant bail against surety bonds to any prisoner whose life was at risk.

The bench observed that the prisoners of death sentence were also entitled to get bails on human rights grounds.

Earlier, the bench sought reply from federation, NAB and Punjab government on the bail petition of Nawaz Sharif. The court directed the three respondents to tell the bench whether they oppose the plea or not. If the respondents took responsibility of Sharif's health and opposed the bail plea then this court would dismissed the petition, the chief justice remarked.

The chief justice said all the responsibility shouldn't be shifted on shoulders of the court. If the three respondents opposed the petition then they had to submit affidavit for taking responsibility of Nawaz Sharif's health.

Additional Advocate General...