Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif is reportedly “on the verge of a kidney failure”, and a medical board has urged that he be immediately transferred to a hospital from Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.
The deterioration in Sharif's health comes just three days before Pakistan votes in a bitterly contested in parliamentary election on July 25.
According to reports, the urea nitrogen in Sharif's blood has climbed to dangerous levels, his heartbeat is irregular and he is suffering from dehydration and excessive sweating.
The hospital in the jail does not have a facility where Sharif could be given intravenous fluids. It is necessary to take Sharif to a proper hospital, and failing to do so could create a emergency situation at night.
The interim Pakistan government is likely to take a decision soon on Sharif's health.
A medical board had reportedly examined Sharif inside the jail on Sunday.
A caretaker government source said that the three-time prime minister has been medically examined on a regular basis in Adiala jail and his medical tests appeared to be normal.
On July 6, Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz were convicted in the Avenfield Reference case by the Accountability Court in Pakistan.
While Sharif was given 10 years imprisonment and fined 8 million pounds, Maryam was awarded eight years in jail and fined 2 million pounds.
Also, Maryam's husband, Captain (Retd) Muhammad Safdar was given a one-year sentence without any fine.
Upon their arrival at Lahore on July 13, Sharif and his daughter were taken to Islamabad by a special chartered flight, from where they were shifted to Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.
“Protecting India's interests”
Even as Sharif has been banned from holding political office, his main rival, Imran Khan, leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, alleged that the jailed former prime minister had been “protecting India's interests and trying to damage the credibility of the July 25 general elections.
Addressing a poll rally in Karachi on Sunday, Khan claimed that a "big game" was being played to hurt the credibility of the general elections and Sharif and others are behind this "conspiracy".
"Now when he [Sharif] knows that his party is facing certain defeat in the elections, he is saying the elections are going to be rigged,” Khan said.
“Even the Indian media is now beating out the narrative that the elections will be rigged. It is a big conspiracy against the state of Pakistan,” Khan added.
"He tried to do this through the Dawn leaks and then by claiming that the Pakistani establishment was behind the Mumbai terror attacks,” Khan alleged.