Pakistan: Lahore HC allows Nawaz Sharif to travel abroad for treatment without conditions

Rejecting the government order, Lahore High Court on Saturday allowed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to travel abroad for medical treatment without any conditions.

The two-judge bench comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem, heard the plea filed by PML-N president and Nawaz's brother Shehbaz Sharif against the conditions imposed by the government on Nawaz's travel. According to the order, Shehbaz Sharif can accompany his brother abroad for four weeks.

The government had allowed Sharif to travel abroad for his medical treatment for a period of four weeks but imposed several conditions on him. It was a one-time permission and Nawaz was supposed to submit an indemnity bond "to the tune of Paksitani rupee 7-7.5 billion."

During the hearing, Justice Najafi remarked that it was not for the government to place conditions after the Islamabad High Court had granted bail to Nawaz Sharif. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had granted bail to Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on medical grounds for eight weeks in the Al Azizia Steel Mills case on October 29, Dawn reported.

Earlier in the day, the court had directed Nawaz and his brother to submit a written undertaking about the former prime minister's travel abroad and his return.

Following the court's directions, the PML-N legal team submitted a handwritten draft of the undertaking by Nawaz, which stated: "I do hereby undertake to return to Pakistan [...] to face the process of law and justice as soon as I am declared healthy and fit to travel to Pakistan by my doctors."

Nawaz is required to travel to London for treatment as his health deteriorated in the Kot Lakhpat jail where he was serving seven-year imprisonment in a corruption case.

Nawaz was rushed to the hospital from Kot Lakhpat jail last month after his personal physician Dr Adnan raised an alarm over his deteriorating health. Doctors have been struggling to bring his platelet count -- that had dropped to dangerous levels -- back to normal.

Sharif was expected to leave Pakistan on Sunday. However, his ticket had been canceled as the authorities did not remove his name from the ECL list.