Former Pak PM Nawaz Sharif.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Islamabad: Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday returned to Pakistan after a four-year-long self-imposed exile in London, in a grand welcome by his party the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
Following is the chronology of his journey from conviction to homecoming.
July 6, 2018: Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to 10 years in jail upon conviction in the Avenfield case. He was convicted in absentia as he was in London at that time to look after his ailing wife.
July 13: Nawaz and his daughter Maryam Nawaz were arrested upon their arrival in Lahore from London.
September 11: Sharif's wife Kulsoom Nawaz dies in London.
September 12: Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law granted parole, reaches Lahore to attend Kulsoom's funeral.
September 19: The Sharifs got major relief as the Islamabad High Court ordered the release of Nawaz, Maryam and Captain Muhammad Safdar while temporarily suspending the sentences awarded to them in the graft case.
December 24: Nawaz was given a seven-year jail term and a fine of Rs1.5 billion in the Al-Azizia sugar mills case.
January 1 2019: The PML-N supremo challenged the Al Azizia case verdict as well in the IHC.
October 25: Nawaz was diagnosed with an immune system disorder and doctors advised him to go abroad for medical treatment.
October 26: Nawaz got an interim bail in the sugar mills case on medical grounds.
October 29: The IHC granted Nawaz an eight-week bail in the Al-Azizia case in view of his deteriorating health.
November 13: The then-government announced that Nawaz will be given 'one-time' permission to travel abroad for his medical treatment for a period of four weeks.
November 19: Nawaz left for London from Lahore in an air ambulance.
September 1, 2020: The IHC ordered the former prime minister to surrender and appear in court, saying that his bail had lapsed on February 27.
September 12, 2023: Shehbaz Sharif revealed the date of October 21 for Nawaz's return to Pakistan to lead the party's political campaign, as the country inches towards the electoral process for the next general elections.
October 19: Nawaz was granted protective bail in two graft cases, while an accountability court suspended his arrest warrant in the Toshakhana case, removing all the legal hurdles in his smooth return to the country.
October 21: Nawaz returns to Pakistan.