Shehbaz, Hamza’s indictment put off again

Accountability court adjourned hearing till August 6

LAHORE:

An accountability court on Wednesday again put off the indictment of PML-President and Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Hamza Shehbaz, in a supplementary reference of the Ramzan Sugar Mills case.

The hearing of the case was adjourned till August 6 as the former Punjab chief minister could not appear before the court after testing positive for Covid-19.

Judge Amjad Nazir Chaudhry conducted the proceedings of the case, wherein jail authorities produced Hamza before the court.

At the start of the proceedings, Shehbaz’s lawyer submitted an application for his client’s exemption from appearing before the court.

The judge observed Shehbaz was given three weeks to appear before the court after he tested positive for Covid-19, whereas a common patient recovered from the disease in two weeks, but he still seeking further exemption. The judge asked whether the PML-N president had been tested for the disease again or not.

The lawyer replied that Shehbaz was 69 years old and a cancer survivor and that was the reason caution was being exercised.

He submitted that his client would be tested again for Covid-19 on Thursday (today) and the Lahore High Court had also sought his test report.

He requested the court to grant exemption to his client.

However, a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor opposed the request, saying that Advocate Muhammad Nawaz was appearing as pleader on behalf of Shehbaz.

He requested court to indict both the accused.

Shehbaz;s counsel assured the court that his client would appear on the next date of hearing.

Subsequently, the court allowed Shehbaz’s application for exemption and adjourned the hearing till August 6

As per the NAB reference, Shehbaz approved an amount of Rs210 million for the construction of the drain to benefit the Ramzan Sugar Mills. Hamza, the leader of opposition in the Punjab Assembly, has been charged in the case for being the chief executive of the mill.

Hamza was granted bail in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case by the Lahore High Court in February this year.

The LHC questioned NAB’s move to file a supplementary reference against the accused when a reference already existed.

The petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Amjad Pervez, argued that his client had no allegation against him in the documents that have been produced in this case. The co-accused, Shehbaz, has been granted bail in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case as the project has not been passed by him when he was the chief minister instead the approval was given by the cabinet and the Punjab Assembly, he argued.

WITH INPUT FROM APP