Lahore (Staff Report): The Punjab government has decided to shift incarcerated former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to Lahore's Services Hospital from Kot Lakhpat jail.
According to sources, the Punjab home department on Saturday sent a notification to the Kot Lakhpat jail authorities and directed them to shift the former PM to hospital.
A special medical board constituted to monitor Nawaz Sharif’s health recommended on Friday that the former premier be shifted to a hospital from prison.
On Wednesday, the board conducted a detailed examination of the former premier at Kot Lakhpat Jail.
The board comprising cardiac experts from Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC), Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) and Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC) examined the health of Nawaz.
On Monday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) summoned all medical reports of ousted PM.
A two-member bench, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani heard Nawaz’s plea seeking to suspend his sentence in the Al-Azizia reference on medical grounds.
The court issued notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Superintendent of Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail, adjourning the hearing of the case till February 6.
The former premier in his plea, requested that the court to suspend the sentence awarded to him by the accountability court verdict till a decision is announced on his appeal against the jail term.
The petition read that the sentence in Al-Azizia reference should be suspended and he should be granted bail on medical grounds against surety bond.
A medical report of the former PM dated January 17 had also been submitted along with the petition.
Former PM Nawaz Sharif underwent a medical examination at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) on January 22.
According to medical sources, three tests namely ECG, echocardiogram and Thallium of the former premier were conducted. “The echocardiogram report showed that Nawaz’s heart is larger than normal,” they said.
The former PM had earlier also moved the IHC seeking a suspension in the seven-year jail term handed to him in the Al-Azizia reference. His petition has been fixed for hearing on February 18.
On Dec 24, 2018, the Accountability Court 2 of Islamabad had handed a seven-year rigorous imprisonment to Nawaz Sharif along with a fine of Rs1.5 billion and $25 million in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills/Hill Metal Establishment reference. It had, however, acquitted him in the Flagship Investment reference.