Hamza Shehbaz’s acquittal plea adjourned till Jan 10

PML-N leader seeks acquittal on basis of new amendments in NAB law

LAHORE:

An accountability court on Monday adjourned the hearing of the acquittal plea of Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz in Ramzan Sugar Mills case till January 10.

Hamza, through his counsel, had prayed for acquittal in the case based on recent amendments in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordinance terming the reference baseless, mala fide and politically motivated. However, the accountability watchdog opposed the acquittal request.

The national graft buster asserted that the amendment in ordinance did not allow clean chit to those misusing their authority. NAB further said that dealing with white-collar crimes was a complex issue and that a holistic approach was needed to fix them.

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NAB ordinance has been promulgated to eliminate corruption, the anti-graft prosecutor said.

Meanwhile, the court indicted Ahmad Ali, a co-accused in a money laundering case against Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif.

The court adjourned the hearing of the case till January 10.

In Ramzan Sugar Mills reference, the anti-graft body alleged that Shehbaz and his sons Hamza and Suleman had misused authority for the construction of a drain by spending Rs210 million.

The money to construct the drain was spent from the public exchequer, NAB said.