Law students and law graduates in Pakistan are reporting for JURIST on events in that country impacting its legal system. Hussain Abbas is an LLB student in the University of London External Programme. He files this from Islamabad.

Flight FZ 4525 Fly Dubai is scheduled to land at Islamabad International Airport at 1 pm on Friday the 21st of October. This flight will notably have the former three-time Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif on board. His return has been widely anticipated by friend and foe. While his detractors have lamented his disregard for the laws of Pakistan by his blatant act of oblivion to the jail term that has awaited him back home, his supporters to the contrary have willed him to return as his physical presence is hoped to give a new lease of life to his political party which potentially could give them enough momentum for a successful campaign in the upcoming General Elections. However, based on the legal deliberations at the Islamabad High Court on the 19th of this month, it seems that Nawaz will for the time being evade arrest and will be allowed to proceed to Lahore on a connecting charter flight.  This was the belief of his legal team as well as representatives of his political party, who before the bail application was even presented by Attaullah Tarar, the acting special attorney, at the Islamabad High Court, had already set the stage for the return of Mr. Nawaz at the iconic Minar e Pakistan in Lahore, where he is to address his supporters.

Mr. Nawaz, who back in November of 2019 had been granted a one-time permission to exit the country by the then PTI Government on the condition that he submit indemnity bonds worth over Rs 7.5 billion, was subsequently allowed by the Lahore High Court to travel abroad for four weeks for medical treatment without any such condition. He at the time was serving a 7-year prison sentence for corruption in the Al Azizia reference while his 10-year prison sentence in the Avenfield case had been suspended in 2018 pending a final judgement. He now returns after an absence of four years from Pakistani soil where his return coincides with a considerable change in fortunes in the prevailing political landscape. Ironically, his biggest foe, Imran Khan- who played a pivotal role in Nawaz Sharif’s downfall, now finds himself behind bars. Mr. Imran Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf, has undergone a substantial surgical dismantling following the now infamous anti-establishment protests on May 9th that came about as a reaction to Mr. Khan’s arrest.

With General Elections looming, the timing of Mr. Nawaz’s return is seen to be a pre-determined event that is intended to help execute the agreed way forward formulated in the 16 months of his brother Mr. Shehbaz Sharif’s Government with the alleged collusion of the present establishment. It is also widely alleged that the present caretaker setup was designed to give effect to this very intention. Therefore it is within this context that the present caretaker setup remains marred by allegations of being installed by the establishment to overlook the upcoming elections and deny PTI a level playing field in the same manner as was alleged to have been done to PML(N) back in 2018.  In response, current Prime Minister Kakar, in an interview given to a foreign media outlet,  accepted his good offices with the establishment and went on to highlight the dependence of the civilian institutions on the military’s superior organizational capabilities. In his words, “…pragmatically, realistically and honestly the role of the military in the country’s politics would continue, at least for the foreseeable future”. His cabinet too has made little effort in refuting such unconstitutional and undemocratic claims by making it a point to advocate for Mr. Nawaz. The lack of impartiality at the hands of the present setup therefore in the preceding days had given rise to another debate about whether the Government would in fact arrest Mr. Nawaz Sharif on his return to the country considering he remains not only convicted but has also been termed an absconder by a High Court of the country. Cabinet Ministers and the then Attorney General Islamabad, Barrister Jahangir Jadoon have time and again been posed with this enquiry, and every time they have refused to determine whether the arrest would in fact be executed.

The law though has had a word on the matter in recent times where biometric verification of the accused has been deemed essential and as a part of standard procedure when making an application for bail. This along with the expectation for a convicted individual to surrender himself in front of an appropriate court of law for any bail proceedings to be initiated is essentially the question that has begged an answer. A divisional bench of the Islamabad High Court has answered in the negative, granting protective bail until October 24th to Mr. Nawaz on account of his two convictions in Al Azizia and Avenfield. This decision came on the heels of a perpetual non-bailable arrest warrant in the Toshakhana case being suspended by the Accountability Court the same morning. All this even before Mr. Nawaz has touched his heels back on the soil of Pakistan as the overwhelming verdict from the courts of justice is ‘not to arrest’.