Shehbaz, Hamza to be indicted in sugar mills case on Mar 16

Rafique brothers' remand period in Paragon Housing case extended for two weeks

LAHORE: An accountability court is likely to indict Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Hamza Shehbaz, in Ramzan Sugar Mills case on March 16.

Earlier, both the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders appeared before the Accountability Court Judge Syed Najamul Hassan in connection with the case hearing on Monday.

Shehbaz's counsel submitted that senior counsel Amjad Pervaiz was not present due to his engagements at the Lahore High Court (LHC).

He asked the court to delay distribution of reference copies among the accused.

However, the court declined the request and handed over the reference copies to Shehbaz and Hamza besides adjourning hearing till March 16. The court also directed both leaders to appear on the next date of hearing, so they could be indicted.

On February 18, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed a reference against Shehbaz and Hamza, alleging that former Punjab chief minister misused his authority and got constructed a 10-km sludge carrier in district Chiniot to facilitate Ramzan Sugar Mills, which was owned by his sons.

NAB alleged that the step caused a loss of Rs213 million to the national exchequer. A LHC division bench has already granted bail to Shehbaz Sharif in Ashiana-e-Iqbal and Ramzan Sugar Mills cases.

Meanwhile, the court also adjourned hearing of Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing case till March 16 after recording statements of two prosecution witnesses.

Shehbaz was present during the proceedings but the court allowed him to leave after it was told that he was not feeling well and continued proceedings in his absence. The court recorded statements of Israr Saeed and Arif Majeed Butt during the proceedings.

Earlier, the court expressed serious annoyance after key suspects – PM's former principal secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad and the Lahore Development Authority former chief Ahad Cheema – were not brought to the court from jail on time. It issued a notice to officials concerned to know the reasons.

It also expressed anger over absence of Shehbaz, who was late in arriving at the court, and warned that his arrest warrant would be issued if he failed to appear. However, later, all accused reached the court.



The judicial remand of Fawad Hassan Fawad, who was presented in the court in assets beyond means case, was also extended till March 19. He told the court that he was under detention for the last nine months but NAB was not filing reference against him.

NAB prosecutor told the court the reference was ready and it would be filed on the next hearing. The court also ordered NAB to file a reference against him in the LDA City scandal also.

On Feb 18, the court indicted the accused after NAB filed a supplementary reference against the PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and 12 others in the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing case. Fawad, Nadeem Zia, Kamran Kiyani, Munir Zia, Khalid Hussain, Shahid Chaudhry and others are also nominated accused.

NAB had accused Shehbaz of misusing his authority, which resulted in failure of the project, depriving 61,000 applicants of housing units. NAB alleged that Shehbaz, in connivance with Ahad Cheema, awarded the contract to a proxy.

NAB has already filed a reference against Cheema and five others over their alleged role in Ashiana scam. The court also conducted hearing of illegal assets case against Fawad and adjourned the matter till March 19 with a direction to NAB to file a reference in this regard by the next hearing.

The PML-N leaders Saad Rafique and Salman Rafique were also presented before the court, which extended their judicial remand in Paragon Housing case till March 19.

The defence lawyer submitted an application to the court for medical examination of Saad Rafique. He told the court that the former railway's minster was feeling pain but he was being deprived of medical facility. The court ordered the concerned authorities to conduct his medical examination.

Later talking to media outside the court, Saad said the PML-N built up institutions and that was why they were being victimised. "It has been a tradition in the country that all whose, who serve it, are punished. However, we will keep doing our job. However, it is not accountability," he added.