Federal Minister for Law and Justice Farogh Naseem announced that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will be allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment. He added that Sharif can only go abroad for four weeks.

“This permission will be subject to Nawaz or Shehbaz Sharif submitting an indemnity bond to the tune of roughly Rs7-7.5 billion to the satisfaction of additional secretary to the Ministry of Interior.”

This will be one-time permission only.

The law minister announced this on Wednesday at a press conference after a meeting of the federal cabinet’s sub-committee. The meeting has decided to remove Nawaz Sharif’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL) on the basis of his critical medical condition.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said that it was the federal government’s responsibility to ensure a guarantee from Nawaz Sharif.

“The bond is only over surety, not any political gain,” Akbar said the Ministry of Interior will issue the letter of permission. He reminded everyone that Mian Nawaz Sharif had been sentenced in a corruption case while an investigation is still underway in other cases.

Nawaz had refused this conditional permission to travel abroad on Tuesday.