In the supplementary challan submitted before a special central court judge, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) declared Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son Suleman Shehbaz innocent in the Rs16 billion money laundering case.
The investigation revealed that neither Suleman had been a public office holder, nor had he been the 'Benamidar' of any public office holder, the report stated.
The report further added up that no evidence was found against him of either money laundering or any illegal transaction from his account.
It is worth mentioning here that the premier’s son had been declared a proclaimed offender in this case. After this declaration, he filed his bail plea on December 23, 2022, and then joined the investigation.
Suleman is not the only one to gain respite from this court, as it had already acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz himself and his other son Hamza Shehbaz in the same money laundering case.
Earlier, the court had granted pre-arrest bail to Suleman in the said case.
Petition
Suleman, in his petition, implored the court that he and his family had been made the subject of political victimisation by implication in “forged cases”.
The petitioner declared his innocence and stated that he decided to come back to his homeland to surrender to the process of law to vindicate it, and he approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to seek protective/transitory bail, which was granted to him on December 13, 2022.
He contended that notwithstanding the “ruthless use of state apparatus at its disposal under the cover of investigation on the above allegations, for over a period of more than one year, respondent investigating agency could not collect an iota of evidence to suggest any nexus of the petitioner’s father and brother with the opening or operation of the alleged benami accounts”.
He stated that no evidence worth name could be collected and brought on record on the allegations of money laundering or involvement of proceeds of any crime in the investigation report under section 173 Cr.P.C /challan prepared and filed by the investigation team, which was constituted during the previous regime, and which acted under the direct supervision, influence and pressure of the then-adviser for interior and accountability Shahzad Akbar.
Suleman submitted that the prosecution’s case could not stand the test of judicial scrutiny even at the tentative stage of bail and the petitioner’s father, his brother and other co-accused were admitted to bail before arrest on merits by the predecessor of this court through its order on June 11, 2022, whereas the petitioner’s father and brother were acquitted October 12, 2022.
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