Bail or jail: What awaits Nawaz Sharif on return?

The three-time prime minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, will return to Pakistan on October 21 after four years of self-exile (in London) with the status of a convicted criminal as he has been sentenced in two graft cases.

The former premier will have to get the sentences awarded to him in two National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases suspended upon his return to the country by filing appeals in the respective court.

He will have to file the appeals all over again, as for the first time, when he had filed the pleas for his acquittal and nullification of the sentence, they were thrown out by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) due to his status as an absconder and also owing to non-pursuance on the case.

Besides getting the convictions in both cases suspended, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo will also have to take the legal option for protection from arrest till he reaches a court.

In this regard, some legal experts are of the view that being an absconder, Nawaz will not be able to get any relief without having a trip to the prison.

Meanwhile, some others oppose this point and believe that whenever a convict surrenders before the court, it gives him a chance to face the law.

Surrender necessary

Ex-president of the IHC Bar Association Shoaib Shaheen told Geo.tv that even for an absconder, the court can grant the relief of a protective bail in "extraordinary circumstances".

"However, there is no room [for such a relief] in the law for a convicted criminal, nor is there any such judicial precedent available," he added.

He said that no absconding convict can have his plea heard in the court until they surrender themselves before the law.

Meanwhile, Niazullah Niazi, an Islamabad-based lawyer, said that Nawaz had gotten the bail after suspension of the sentence awarded to him but the bail has expired.

He said that the sentence had been restored after Nawaz was declared an absconder and now the court cannot entertain any petition until the absconding criminal appears before it and surrenders.

"Nawaz will have to seek bail after going to jail, then the court can give him any relief," he said.

Some room?

Commenting on the matter, former advocate general Islamabad Barrister Jahangir Jadoon, said: "Nawaz Sharif — upon his return — might get protection for reaching court."

He mentioned that when arrest warrants are issued after an individual is declared a proclaimed offender, the accused/suspect is to be apprehended and made to surrender before the law.

"If a proclaimed offender intends to surrender voluntarily, the court then allows him to do so. Nawaz would have to move the high court to revive the appeal against his sentence, as well as seek suspension of his sentence so that this matter could be decided upon soon," Jadoon said while commenting on the prospects if the former prime minister surrenders before the court.

Jadoon said if Nawaz's sentence is not suspended despite surrendering before the court, then the former prime minister might have to go to jail.

Meanwhile, Advocate Amjad Pervaiz said that the PML-N supremo, despite being a proclaimed offender, can file an application for protective bail.

Convictions and court orders

It is pertinent to note that an accountability court sentenced the three-time prime minister in Avenfield and Al-Azizia Steel Mills references.

The sentence was challenged in the high court which had suspended the accountability court's sentence.

Appeal proceedings — for the petition challenging the sentence — were underway when Nawaz travelled abroad for medical treatment and didn't return to pursue the case.

The PML-N supremo — after he moved to Lahore High Court (LHC) instead of the IHC — was allowed to go abroad for four weeks after his brother and party president Shehbaz Sharif submitted an undertaking in the court assuring Nawaz's return once his health improves.

The IHC — in the absence of the PML-N supremo — threw out the appeals on account of "non-prosecution" instead of adjourning the proceedings for an indefinite period.

The court, while declaring Nawaz as a proclaimed offender, noted that the appeals were rejected on technical grounds and not on the merits of the arguments.

The applicant can once again file an appeal against the sentence upon his return, the court added.

Awais Yousafzai is a staffer at Geo News and covers the Islamabad High Court. He tweets @awaisReporter