The Pakistani Supreme Court on Tuesday granted six-week bail to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, temporarily suspending his seven-year prison term for corruption.
Sharif will be free to get treatment anywhere in the country but will not be allowed to leave Pakistan, the court said.
The former leader was convicted of corruption in December by an anti-graft tribunal.
Sharif, 69, has a history of diabetes and had medical procedures on his heart at a clinic in London more than two years ago.
He sought bail on the grounds of deteriorating health.
The Islamabad High Court had rejected the bail appeal in February.
The decision was then challenged in the Supreme Court.
This won’t be the first time Sharif has received medical attention.
Since his December conviction, he has been let out of custody on several occasions for treatment in the eastern city of Lahore.
Sharif, a three-time premier who was removed by the Supreme Court in 2017, was not present in the courtroom at the time of announcement.
Sharif and his children; two sons and a daughter were charged with three counts of corruption during his two periods in power in the 1990s.
Sharif, known as an advocate for civilian supremacy in a country marred by years of violence by Islamist militants and political upheavals, has rough relations with the military and the judiciary.
All three of his terms in power ended prematurely, once through a direct military coup. (dpa/NAN)