Nawaz Sharif walks out of prison after 3 months on medical grounds

Lahore: Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was released from jail on Wednesday, a day after the Supreme Court granted him six weeks' bail to receive medical treatment within the country.

Sharif, 69, was lodged in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail since December last year, serving a seven-year imprisonment in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills graft case.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo, who denies wrongdoing, has suffered four angina attacks in recent weeks, according to his daughter Maryam Nawaz. On Tuesday, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa accepted Sharif's appeal and allowed him to get medical treatment from any health facility of his choice within the country.

Sharif is barred from leaving Pakistan. The deposed prime minister's supporters and party workers gathered in large numbers outside the jail and showered his car with flowers as he left the area.

Some PML-N party workers moved along with Sharif's car till his residence.

The three-time prime minister was received by PML-N leaders and his family at his house in the Jati Umra Raiwind area here.

Sharif's release got delayed as the court order and other required documents could not reach the jail for more than 10 hours after the bench's direction. The Supreme Court observed in its order that several senior doctors had suggested that Sharif's history of hypertension, cardiac and renal ailments may present a "mild-moderate risk" if he is to undergo angiography.