Pak court extends interim bail of PM Shehbaz Sharif in sugar scam case

A Pakistan court on Sunday extended the interim bail of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, reports ANI.

File Photo

A Pakistan court on Sunday extended the interim bail of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz till May 26 in connection with Rs 16 billion money-laundering case. The court also issued an arrest warrant for three others, including Suleman Shahbaz, Tahir Naqvi, and Malik Maqsood stating that the three have been declared absconders by the magistrate court, Geo tv reported. Special court Judge Ijaz Hassan Awan adjourned the hearing till May 28. During the hearing, the judge noticed that the police do not adhere to the court directions as he summoned the deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and station house officer (SHO), who denied appearing before the court.

As per the Geo tv report, the judge complained that due to the security of PM, others coming to the court had to suffer. PM Shehbaz in his defense said, "I am appearing before the court in order to maintain its dignity and follow the laws of the country." 

He added that he asked his security not to stop anybody from coming to the court. The counsel of PM Shehbaz, Mohammad Amjad Pervaiz argued in the court that the prosecution team had removed many of the challans which were filed against Shehbaz between 2008 and 2018. Thus the record presented by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is insufficient to prove the charges against Shehbaz, he claimed.

He said that there was no evidence found against his client which proves his connections with sugar mills and that Shehbaz neither has any share in the bank accounts nor a single penny from these 14 accounts were transferred to his account in the last 10 years, Geo tv reported.

The father-son duo reached the special court for a hearing on Saturday, they were accompanied by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah amid tight security around the court. Earlier, the FIA`s special court had issued an order that it will indict PM Shehbaz and CM Punjab Hamza on May 14.