Saturday in LAHORE, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz appeared before a special court in an Rs16 billion money laundering case.
Refuting claims of corruption against him, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that he has always placed national interests ahead of his own family’s.
Before the pair’s arrival, the courthouse was evacuated and stringent security precautions were implemented.
Moreover, throughout the hearings, PM Shehbaz Sharif informed the court that he had never taken his pay, TA, and DA from the national purse, despite it being his legal entitlement to do so. The prime minister requested that he launder just Rs2.5 million.
“In this particular instance, I am accused of laundering Rs2.5 million,” the prime minister said.
The prime minister said that his family incurred a loss of Rs2 billion, but he did not provide sugar mills with subsidies. The judge then gave permission for him and CM Hamza Shehbaz to leave the courtroom.
Shehbaz Sharif’s attorney, Amjad Pervaiz, maintained that the prime minister had nothing to do with the opening or closing of bank accounts during the previous decade. Amjad Pervaiz claimed that the prosecution has the burden of evidence in this instance.
He said that the PTI-led government was intent on imprisoning Shehbaz Sharif and that this [money laundering] investigation is politically motivated and hence founded on mala fide. “The information on the FIA’s challan was inaccurate.
Referring to the law, the attorney said that if there are ten charges against someone, he or she would not be arrested individually in each instance.
“The [prior] administration was aware that this case could not be proven in court,” the attorney said, adding that the courts ruled in favor of his client.
During the hearing last week, Ijaz Hassan Awan, the presiding judge of the Special Court (Central-I), extended their temporary bails in the case till today, May 28. Son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Suleman Shehbaz, was also handed an arrest warrant by the special court.
When the hearing started, the court informed FIA prosecutor Farooq Bajwa that the agency’s report detailing the arrest of Suleman Shehbaz and other accused had contradictory information.
“The study states, on the one hand, that D-41, Model Town, is not an address. On the other hand, it also states that the suspect Suleman Shehbaz is overseas,” he said. Bajwa stated that the address indeed exist, but the suspect could not be discovered at that place.
Upon hearing this, FIA prosecutor Farooq Bajwa said that it was an error. The intended statement was that the suspect was not present at the location.
The court questioned, “Where is the investigator who compiled this report?”
The prosecutor argued with the court to permit the filing of a fresh report in this respect.
In highlighting the report’s inadequacies, the court remarked that the co-accused, Ghulam Shabbar, is described as having died and as having been questioned at the same time.
The court observed that a challan had been provided on a deceased individual and ordered the officer to submit a fresh challan with all references to Ghulam Shabbar removed.
The FIA representative then informed the court that the suspect’s death certificate was a year old and that the investigation had begun prior to his passing.
Bajwa said that he will provide a thorough answer to this.
