Nawaz Sharif gets bail for treatment

Islamabad: In a relief to ailing Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to the jailed former prime minister for six weeks for seeking medical treatment within the country.

Sharif, 69, is lodged in the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore since December last year, serving a 7-year imprisonment in the Al Azizia Steel Mills graft case.

He filed appeal earlier this month against a judgment by the Islamabad High Court which on February 25 rejected his bail on medical grounds in the same case.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa in a short order granted bail to Sharif for six weeks for his treatment.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo has suffered four angina attacks in recent weeks, according to his daughter Maryam Nawaz.

The Sharif family is complaining that the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan was not providing adequate treatment to the 3-time former premier who has serious health complications.

The apex court in its order directed Sharif to submit two bail bonds amounting to Rs 1 crore.

However, the bench made it clear that Sharif cannot go out of the country during the six-week period.