Court seeks reply on Suleman’s acquittal plea

A Lahore special central court has sought replies from the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on the acquittal pleas of accused persons, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son Suleman Shehbaz, in the alleged Rs16 billion money laundering case by July 10.

Judge Bakht Fakhar Bahzad also directed the JIT to submit its reply on the questionnaire containing 30 questions.

The judge directed the quarters concerned to submit the JIT record compiled to probe this case. The judge also directed all investigation officers of the case to ensure their presence on the next date of hearing.

As the proceedings commenced, petitioner Suleman’s counsel Amjad Pervez argued that it was a politically motivated case that was made during the PTI's tenure and its mastermind was former adviser to PM on accountability Shahzad Akbar.

“How Suleman was declared a proclaimed offender when he was out of the country,” the judge asked.

Counsel Pervez said, “We are asking the same question but at that time no one was ready to respond to us.”

He argued that this case relied upon different tales, adding that no substantial evidence was available on record against one Tahir Naqvi.

He argued that the main accused had already been acquitted in this case.
“The allegations levelled against my client have nothing to do with reality.” The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) alleged Rs25 billion but submitted a challan of Rs16 billion. “No evidence is on record to establish money laundering occurred through the accounts of Suleman Shehbaz,” he said.Earlier proceedings
The FIA had given a clean chit to Suleman, intimating the court that "no evidence of his involvement in the money laundering case was found".

The FIA submitted the challan before the special central court judge, arguing that no evidence of receiving kickbacks has been found against Suleman and the other accused in the alleged Rs16 billion money laundering case. After that, the petitioners Suleman and Naqvi withdrew their bail pleas.

After Suleman had been declared a proclaimed offender in this case, he filed a bail plea on December 23, 2022 and then joined the investigation. This court had already acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Hamza Shehbaz, in the money laundering case.

Earlier, the court had granted pre-arrest bail to Suleman in this case.