Daily Times

Banking court in Lahore granted extension in the interim bail of PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz against the money laundering and sugar scam cases. Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shehbaz appeared before the court in the case hearing today, the hearing was headed by duty judge Aslam Gondal who extended their temporary bails until September 25.

Shehbaz Sharif earlier stated that the allegation of corruption and money laundering could not be applied to him as he was neither a partner nor a director in the case related to Ramzan Sugar Mills.“I didn’t give any subsidy to the sugar mills during my tenure as the chief minister and appeared scores of times for the inquiry”, PML-N leader said.

During the proceedings, Shehbaz Sharif told the court that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) initiated this case but now the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has also jumped in. The judge has asked Shehbaz Sharif how many times he had been called by the investigators, upon which the NAB official interrupted, saying they had called the PML-N chief only once. “Only four lines are written in the file during the last two months. What kind of investigation are you people conducting?” the judge asked.

The investigation has been started since July 2 but the file contained nothing. The judge further said “You people must investigate properly now so that the accused should also know the probe is moving ahead”. Hamza Shehbaz added that, why they were not investigated when they were in jail. “No investigation was carried out before and now they are again calling for our arrest”. Under the cases of financial fraud, corruption and money laundering the  Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) summoned Shehbaz Sharif and his two sons, Hamza and Suleman Shehbaz.