Daily Times

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday adjourned hearing of a bail petition filed by Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif in assets beyond means and money laundering case till April 14 (today).

The division bench comprising Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Asjad Javaid Ghural heard the post arrest bail petition filed by Shehbaz Sharif. The petitioner’s counsel submitted detailed arguments during the course of proceedings, stating that Shehbaz Sharif was not only seventy years old but also suffered from many diseases. He submitted that the trial court was recording statements of the witnesses whereas the conclusion of the trial was not in sight. He submitted that already many co-accused had been granted benefit of bail in the case, therefore, bail be granted to his client as well.

At this stage, the NAB prosecutor sought time for submitting his final arguments.

Subsequently, the court adjourned further proceedings till April 14 and directed NAB prosecutor to submit his arguments.

It is pertinent to mention here that Shehbaz Sharif was arrested on Sept 28, 2020 after the LHC denied him further relief of pre-arrest bail in the case.

He remained in the NAB’s custody for 23 days till the trial court sent him on judicial remand on Oct 20, 2020. The NAB had nominated 16 persons as accused in the case. However, only 10, out of 16, were indicted yet. Besides Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza Shehbaz, Javeria Ali, Fazl Dad Abbasi, Rashid Karamat, Muhammad Usman, Masroor Anwar, Nisar Ahmad, Shoaib Qamar, and Qasim Qayyum had been indicted in the case. However, Salman Shehbaz, Nusrat Shehbaz, Rabia Imran, Syed Muhammad Tahir Naqvi, Haroon Yousaf Zai and another could not be indicted due to their absence.

In a reference, comprising 55 volumes, the bureau had alleged that Shehbaz Sharif’s family committed massive money laundering of Rs 7 billion. Yasir Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmad, Shahid Rafique and Aftab were made approvers in the reference.