Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif would surrender to court like an independent citizen after his return to Pakistan, said party leader Rana Sanaullah on Friday.

“The matter is that the legal team of Mian Nawaz Sharif has gauged everything so I cannot on air this right now, but hopefully he will come in a condition that he has a legal justification that he, like an independent citizen in court, where his appeals and cases are being heard, surrenders himself, have his bail,” he told a press conference in Lahore.

PML-N supremo Nawaz is scheduled to return to Pakistan on October 21 to spearhead his party’s election campaign. Elections are due in the South Asian country, but many experts believe that polls would be held next year after the polls overseer body completes the delimitation process.

The top leadership of PML-N, including Shehbaz Sharif and Khawaja Asif, were in London with Nawaz.

“You understand the concept of protective bail and work is being done related to that. So hopefully after making all these arrangements, he will return [to Pakistan],” said Nawaz.

When asked, Sanaullah replied that Nawaz was having consultations with his doctors. He highlighted that the PML-N supremo was a heart patient.

To another query, he alleged that a controversial bench gave a controversial decision in a case related to the NAB amendment.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar told Samaa on Wednesday that the decision as to whether or not to handcuff Nawaz upon his return to the country would be made by law enforcement agencies.

He said that the LEAs would make the decision based on the applicable legal provisions. He did not elaborate on what those legal provisions are.

Nawaz was convicted in the Al-Azizia Mills and Avenfield corruption cases in 2018. The cases were still sub-judice.

He has been in exile since 2019 and has mostly lived in London after being disqualified for life in the Panama Papers case.