A top Pakistani court Thursday granted bail to Shehbaz Sharif in two corruption cases, in a major relief to the embattled Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief and Leader of Opposition who is currently in a jail here. A two-member bench of the Lahore High Court headed by Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed accepted Sharif's plea and granted him bail in the Rs 1,400 crore Ashiyana Housing and Ramzan Sugar Mills scams. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had taken 67-year-old Sharif, the younger brother of jailed prime minister Nawaz Sharif, into custody on October 5. He is accused of allegedly cancelling the contract of a successful bidder in the scheme and awarding the same to his favourite firm. The former Punjab province chief minister, who has been in the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore, declared the verdict "a victory of truth". He said false cases were instituted against him on "political grounds". He said if a corruption of a penny is proved against him, he will quit politics. But Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the government and nation are disappointed with the release of Shehbaz Sharif on bail. "The message sent to the nation is that the big fishes can still get away," Chaudhry was quoted as saying by Geo News. "The NAB chairman should review its prosecution, investigation to see why the cases are not reaching at their logical end." He said that the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party led by Prime Minister Imran Khan broke the entrenched two-party system and started the process of accountability in the country. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senior leader Khursheed Shah welcomed the court's decision, saying "This is a welcome move". "Now, politics will take place in an independent environment and with independent thinking," he said. "The opposition will work together to draft a plan of action for the issues faced by the country," the PPP senior leader further said. In both cases the NAB prosecutor failed to present evidence and witnesses in support of its claim of corruption against Sharif, Pakistani media reported. Sharif served as the chief minister of the politically crucial Punjab province from 2013 to 2018. He became PML-N president after his elder brother was barred from holding the top party position and public posts. Nawaz is also serving a seven-year imprisonment in Al-Azizia Mills corruption case in the Kot Lakhpat jail. He has filed a bail application in the Islamabad high court on medical grounds. Nawaz has heart related complications and the multi-disciplinary medical board constituted by the government has recommended his care in a cardiac facility 24 hrs a day.
