Court extends Hamza Shahbaz's interim bail till June 11
On May 28, the court had extended Hamza's pre-arrest bail for an unspecified period of time.
LAHORE (Dunya News) – The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday extended interim bail of the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz till June 11 in Ramzan Sugar Mills, Punjab Saaf Pani Company and assets beyond means cases.
A two-member bench, headed by Justice Muzahir Ali Akbar Naqvi, presided over the hearing as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor presented his arguments against Hamza in the cases.
The prosecutor argued that Hamza’s assets were increased by millions of rupees while he failed to provide details of sources of his income, and that a reference against him regarding the Saaf Pani Company case has already been filed in the accountability court.
Contrarily, the PML-N leader’s defense counsel responded with the argument that the NAB had nominated his client after filing the reference.
Regarding the accusations against Hamza in Ramzan Sugar Mills case, the defense further stated that a drainage system – a 10-km nullah for draining of water from the mill, by misusing the authority and misappropriating Rs21 million of public funds for their benefit, for which they pleaded not guilty – was built following an application of local MPA.
Subsequently, he sought 10 days time from the court by arguing that advocate Salman Butt was abroad, and he needed time to appear before the bench.
To which, Justice Naqvi remarked already two months have passed and, “that much time is not granted in pre-arrest bails, here [in the court] applications for interim bails are pending for the last four years.”
All the accused persons, including Shehbaz, Hamza and his brother Salman Shehbaz, have already been indicted in Ramzan Sugar Mills case.
Police have ensured strict security arrangements outside the judicial complex and the adjoining roads were blocked for routine traffic.
Earlier on May 28, a two-member bench forwarded the bail matter to the chief justice for its fixation before any other appropriate bench when Hamza requested asked the bench to refer the matter to any other bench to protect integrity of the court following certain reservations on it in the light of a ‘controversial’ media interview of NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal.
On May 28, the court extended Hamza s pre-arrest bail for an unspecified period of time.
On May 22, the court had extended Hamza’s pre-arrest bail till May 28 in the same cases.
On May 8, the court extended his bail till May 22 when his counsel pointed out that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had not given them reasons for his arrest and the documents showing approval of the inquiries by the competent authority.
