Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz were exempted from attending today’s hearing of a money laundering case against them by an accountability court in Lahore. Judge Naseem Ahmed Virk of AC-II was told by Chaudhry Nawaz Advocate, the counsel for both Shehbaz and Hamza, that while the prime minister was in Islamabad for the National Assembly’s (NA) session, Hamza could not appear because he had to attend the Punjab Assembly’s budget session. Lawyers for Shehbaz and Hamza, on the other hand, will soon begin making arguments in favor of granting their clients permanent immunity from court appearances.