Daily Times

Former president Asif Ali Zardari was released from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) sub-jail on Thursday, a day after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) approved his bail on medical grounds, a private TV channel reported.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Aseefa Bhutto arrived at PIMS to take Zardari from the hospital to Zardari House in Islamabad.

The former president was to be flown to Karachi Thursday night where he will be treated at a private hospital in Clifton. Zardari’s CT scan, angiography and angioplasty will be conducted at the hospital in Karachi.

The former president is suffering from complications of the heart as well as other diseases. A VIP room has already been prepared for the PPP leader and a six-member medical board will oversee his treatment which will be headed by Professor Nadeem Qamar.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday had granted bail to Zardari on medical grounds in two cases filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on money laundering allegations.

The bench had also heard a bail application filed by Zardari’s sister Faryal Talpur but adjourned it until December 17 as NAB had not submitted a response. In an application filed earlier this month, Talpur had maintained that she is the mother of a differently abled child. In order to care for her child, she had asked the court to grant her bail until the completion of the trial.