Lahore: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz appeared before the FIA Special Court in Lahore in money laundering and fake accounts cases on Saturday. The court, headed by Special Judge Central Ijaz Hassan Awan, was hearing petitions seeking acquittal of Shehbaz and Hamza in the Ramazan Sugar Mills case.
The court was also hearing Shehbaz and Hamza’s interim bail petitions in money laundering and fake accounts cases. The Ashiyana Housing Society case against PM Shehbaz would also be heard today by an accountability court. The FIA special court summoned Shehbaz and other accused to indict them.
During the hearing, Prime Minister Shehbaz came to the rostrum. He told the court that the authorities had conducted an inquiry against him through the National Crime Agency, London but the agency couldn’t find anything against him.
“The NCA continued its probe for two years but it could not prove corruption of even a penny against me. I lived in the UK and did business over there,” Shehbaz said adding that cases against him were political.
During the hearing, the judge of the special court asked the law officer to set aside the case of three accused who had been declared proclaimed offenders in this case. FIA prosecutor Farooq Bajwa prayed to the court to indict other accused involved in the money laundering case.
The court, however, reserved its verdict on declaring accused Tahir Naqvi, Salman Shehbaz, and Malik Masood as proclaimed offenders. Lawyer Amjad Pervaiz appeared before the FIA special court on behalf of Shehbaz Sharif and gave his arguments against the indictment of the latter. He argued that there was no need to arrest Shehbaz. He prayed to the court to grant bail to Shehbaz as he had to come to the court again and again.
The FIA registered cases against 16 accused, including Shehbaz and Hamza, alleging that they were involved in Rs16 billion money laundering through Ramazan Sugar Mills. The Sharifs and others were facing corporate fraud charges. Both the father and son termed FIA cases against them bogus and baseless.