The accountability court in Pakistan has suspended the perpetual non-bailable arrest warrants issued for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Toshakhana gifts case. This decision comes just days before Nawaz Sharif’s slated return to Pakistan on October 21, ending nearly four years of self-imposed exile.
The trial court has temporarily suspended the arrest warrant until October 24 and has prohibited authorities from detaining Nawaz Sharif at the airport upon his arrival. The former Prime Minister had been convicted in the Al-Azizia and Avenfield corruption cases on July 6, 2018, and was serving a 10-year prison sentence. However, he was granted bail on humanitarian grounds in October 2019 for medical treatment in London. As his bail expired and he failed to return to Pakistan, the Islamabad High Court had declared him a proclaimed offender and absconder.
Before the recent developments, Nawaz Sharif faced non-bailable arrest warrants in the Al-Azizia and Avenfield corruption cases, as well as the Toshakhana gifts case.
Today, an Islamabad High Court divisional bench, led by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and comprising Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb, addressed Nawaz Sharif’s plea seeking protective bail in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia graft references. Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer, Azam Nazir Tarar, informed the bench about the suspension of perpetual arrest warrants by the accountability court.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) maintained that they had no objection to granting protective bail, with the prosecutor stating that Nawaz Sharif could appear before the court if he wished. The court questioned the basis of this statement, to which the NAB lawyer replied that he was acting on the directives of the anti-graft watchdog’s prosecutor-general, promising to submit this in writing. The NAB prosecutor also stated that the court’s written order allowed Nawaz Sharif to revive his appeal once he returned to Pakistan.
The court accepted Nawaz Sharif’s plea for protective bail, granting it until October 24, and prevented authorities from arresting him upon his return to the country while seeking a written response from NAB regarding their stance.
Simultaneously, accountability court Judge Muhammad Basheer announced the reserved verdict on Nawaz Sharif’s plea to suspend his perpetual arrest warrants, providing relief to the ousted premier until October 24. The court directed Nawaz Sharif to appear before it on that date. The court questioned why Nawaz Sharif had not appeared earlier, to which the defense explained that he had been granted relief by the Lahore High Court on medical grounds and had been abroad for treatment.
Advocate Qazi Misbah, representing Nawaz Sharif, stated that the former premier would appear before the court on October 24 and clarified that no arrest warrant had been issued by the anti-graft body in this case. NAB prosecutor Sohail Arif expressed no objections to the suspension of the court-issued arrest warrants since the defense was willing to surrender and appear before the court.
The judge noted that Nawaz Sharif had left the country with the court’s permission four months prior to this reference being filed and inquired if any other accused had been arrested in this case, to which the counsels replied in the negative. Subsequently, the court accepted Nawaz Sharif’s plea and suspended the perpetual arrest warrants, setting the stage for his highly anticipated return to Pakistan on October 21.
