The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday extended the interim bail of Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz until April 25 in an ongoing investigation into a case related to assets beyond means and money laundering.
According to details, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader appeared before the court on Wednesday.
As the hearing resumed, the court asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor in which case the bureau wanted to arrest Hamza. The prosecutor told the court that there were three cases against the accused – assets beyond known sources of income, Saaf Pani and Ramzan Sugar Mills cases – but arrest warrants were not issued in the Saaf Pani and Ramzan Sugar Mills cases. Previously, a NAB team had swooped on the 96-H house, believed to be Shehbaz Sharif’s residence, allegedly because Hamza Shehbaz was “not cooperating” in the ongoing investigation in the case.
Contrarily, the NAB, in a press release, disclosed that its Lahore team had raided the residence for arresting him in the assets beyond means case.
The press release noted that the Supreme Court had made it clear that the NAB did not need to inform suspects prior to their arrest. Moreover, the NAB statement maintained, “Therefore, there has been a clear violation of the law by Hamza Shehbaz.” “Those who interfere in NAB’s legal action and the operations of the state will be proceeded against as per the law,” the statement read. Besides, a first information report (FIR) was also lodged against Hamza Shehbaz’s guards on an application filed by the NAB, alleging that they had manhandled members of the NAB team, tore their clothes and threatened them.
Stringent security measures were taken in the court during the case hearing. PML-N workers and unconcerned lawyers were not allowed to enter the courtroom, while special passes were issued to the lawyers appearing in the case. Policemen forced the PML-N workers out of the high court compound, which resulted in scuffles between the party workers and policemen.