Nawaz Sharif set to return to jail as 6-week bail expires

Pakistan's ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif will return to Kot Lakhpat Jail here on Tuesday following the expiry of his six-week bail in a corruption case in which he has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

The three-time former premier is expected to surrender himself to jail authorities in evening after Iftar and will arrive at the prison in a PML(N) workers' rally, which will be led by his daughter Maryam Nawaz.

Sharif, 69, was granted six-week interim bail by the top court on March 26 in the Al-Azizia Mills corruption case to undergo medical treatment and he filed the petition on April 27 for permanent bail stating that he was suffering from acute anxiety and depression.

The bail expired Tuesday as the Supreme court rejected his review petition seeking extension in the bail granted to him on medical grounds. The court also rejected the former premier's plea to allow him to travel abroad for treatment.

"Nawaz Sharif will return to Kot Lakhpat Jial Lahore on Tuesday in a procession of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers. A call has been given to the workers to gather at the Jati Umra residence of Sharif to march towards the jail along with him," PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb told PTI on Monday.

She said the PML-N workers are eager to come to roads against Prime Minister Imran Khan's anti-people policies and they are waiting a call from the leadership.

Aurangzeb said that Maryam will accompany her father, and will be present in his car. The party has decided that she will remain with her father until he is taken into custody by the jail authorities.

The Home Department Punjab earlier instructed Sharif to reach Kot Lakhpat Jail by 5 pm on Tuesday, and said his arrival in the form of a rally would be against the law.

Protesting against the instructions, PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah told Geo News that Sharif's bail is valid till the midnight of May 7, and questioned why he should have to reach the jail anytime before that.

Sharif, three-time prime minister, has been serving a seven-year prison term at the jail since December 24, 2018 when an accountability court convicted him in one of the three corruption cases filed in the wake of the apex court's July 28, 2017 order in Panama Papers case.

He was imprisoned in Adiyala Jail and shifted to Kot Lakhpat Jail on his request.