Islamabad (Web Desk): An accountability court in Islamabad on Tuesday confirmed bail of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and former premier Nawaz Sharif's bail in Toshakhana case.
The PML-N supremo arrived at the accountability court along with party leaders including Shehbaz Sharif, Ahsan Iqbal, Khawaja Asif, Ayaz Sadiq and Saad Rafique.
Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir conducted the hearing of the case.
At the outset of the hearing, Nawaz was called to the rostrum to mark his attendance, after which the judge allowed him to leave if he wished to go.
The NAB prosecutor contended that Nawaz had surrendered, therefore, his arrest warrants should be cancelled. “If the warrants are cancelled then the trial can move forward,” he said.
Later, the court confirmed Nawaz Sharif’s bail in the case against surety bonds of Rs1 million and adjourned the hearing till November 20.
Ahead of arrival at Federal Judicial Complex (FJC), the bomb disposal squad emptied the courtroom, searching it for security purposes, while a heavy contingent of the Islamabad Police is also positioned both inside and outside the complex in the federal capital with only relevant lawyers and journalists allowed entry.
PML-N leader is also scheduled to appear before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in relation to two graft cases filed against him. He has moved the high court seeking bail in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references.
On Tuesday, the PML-N leader filed petitions in the IHC, seeking the restoration of appeals in Avenfield property and Al-Azizia Steel Mills references.
On October 19, the IHC had accepted former PM Nawaz Sharif's pleas, granting him protective bail in both cases until October 24 (Tuesday).
After he landed at the Islamabad International Airport on October 21, the PML-N supremo signed applications for restoration of pending appeals against his convictions in the Avenfield Apartments and Al-Azizia references.
Nawaz Sharif was convicted in the Al-Azizia Mills and Avenfield corruption cases in 2018.
He was handed 10 years in jail in the Avenfield properties corruption reference for owning assets beyond known income and one year for not cooperating with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which were to be served concurrently.
He served a seven-year imprisonment at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail in the Al-Azizia Mills case before he was allowed to go to London in November 2019 on “medical grounds.”
In February 2020, the then PTI-led government had declared Nawaz Sharif an absconder, and later in the same year, an accountability court had declared him a proclaimed offender in the Toshakhana vehicles reference.
