Nawaz secures bail from accountability court in Toshakhana case.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday secured bail from an accountability court in the Toshakhana case.

The hearing of the case was adjourned till November 20. Nawaz's legal team submitted surety bonds of Rs1 million in the court after bail was secured.

The three-time former premier will also appear before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in connection with the Avenfield and Al-Aziza corruption references.

A special division bench, led by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, will take take up Nawaz's applications against his conviction in both cases.

Stringent security arrangements were made at the IHC premises ahead of the PML-N supremo's arrival before the high court, with the bomb disposal squad inspecting the courtroom and police officials deployed in the vicinity.

Prior to this, similar security measures were set in place for Nawaz's hearing at an accountability court in Islamabad for the Toshakhana case.

Case history

Nawaz was convicted in the Avenfield case in July 2018 and the Al-Azizia case in December of the same year. He later filed appeals against his conviction in the IHC.

However, on June 24, 2021, an IHC bench led by Justice Farooq rejected the appeals due to Nawaz's failure to appear in court for several hearings.

Nawaz, who was serving a seven-year jail term after his conviction in the Al-Azizia case, was granted rare permission to seek medical treatment abroad in October 2019.

The PML-N supreme leader chose not to return to the country despite repeated court summonses, leading to both the IHC and an accountability court declaring him a proclaimed offender.

Read Nawaz returns to take fourth shot at power

In its nine-page judgment of June 24, 2021, the IHC stated that since Nawaz was a "fugitive from the law" he had lost his right of audience before the court. The court had no choice but to dismiss his appeal, the order said.

However, both the IHC and the accountability court on October 19, 2023 granted the former...