Punjab govt refuses to extend bail granted to Nawaz Sharif for treatment abroad

The Pakistan's Punjab government on Tuesday refused to grant permission to former prime minister Naswaz Sharif to extend his stay in London on medical grounds and asked him to either return to the country or face court.

Sharif, 70, left for London in November last for treatment after the Lahore High Court allowed him to go abroad on medical grounds for four weeks.

According to Sharif's physician, the three-time prime minister is suffering from complex multi-vessel coronary artery disease and substantial ischemic and threatened myocardium for which he is due to undergo surgery.

The court directed Sharif to seek further permission in his stay in London from the Punjab government. The Islamabad High Court had given Sharif bail in the Al-Azizia Mills corruption case in which he was serving seven years imprisonment at Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail, allowing him to go abroad for medical treatment.

On the recommendations of the government medical board that examined the reports of Sharif, the Punjab government on Tuesday announced that "no further extension to his stay abroad can be granted and he must return."
Reacting to the Punjab government's decision, the Opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has termed the decision of the Punjab government "a political victimisation of fascist regime of Prime Minister Imran Khan."
PML-N president and Nawaz Sharif's younger brother Shahbaz Sharif said: "The Imran Khan regime is trying to snatch the right of living from the three-time premier."