Punjab caretaker government decided to temporarily suspend the sentence of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia reference case.
The Caretaker government of Punjab took this action by using their authority granted below Section 401 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which lets in the government to quickly halt a convict’s sentence.
It’s worth noting that Nawaz Sharif’s sentence had been previously suspended when he traveled to London for medical treatment in 2019. Caretaker Punjab Information Minister Amir Mir explained that the government’s power is to suspend a sentence, not to completely erase it.
To provide some background, in December 2018, an accountability court had sentenced Nawaz Sharif to seven years in prison in connection with the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case.
He had also been acquitted in the Flagship Investments reference. In addition to the prison term, the court had imposed a hefty fine of Rs1.5 billion and million on Nawaz Sharif. Furthermore, a 10-year disqualification from holding any public office was included in the verdict, to take effect after he completed his seven-year jail term.
