Shahbaz off to London, Hamza doesn’t appear before NAB

By Our Correspondent

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Opposition Leader Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday left for London after he was granted bail and his name was removed from the Exit Control List (ECL).

According to sources, a multiple entry visa for England was issued to Shahbaz and his wife. He also obtained visas for his mother and four of his staff members.

Meanwhile, Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Hamza Shahbaz on Wednesday again avoided appearing before the NAB in investigations against him related to assets beyond means and money laundering. It’s the third consecutive time that Hamza didn’t appear before the Combined Investigation Team of the National Accountability Bureau in the said investigations. The NAB has again summoned Hamza for April 12.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday granted interim pre-arrest bail to Hamza till April 17 in the Ramzan Sugar Mills and Saaf Paani Company cases.

A division bench, headed by Justice Malik Shehzad Ahmed Khan, allowed the bail while hearing two applications the PML-N leader had submitted for a pre-arrest bail. The court asked Hamza to furnish two surety bonds of Rs 10 million each and issued a notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

At the start of the hearing, the bench expressed displeasure over a large gathering of PML-N activists inside the courtroom, who created disruption. Justice Khan observed that the workers had misbehaved in a similar manner during Monday’s hearing and were making noise again.

The judge remarked that everyone had come to the court “to get into the good books” of the PML-N leadership and that videos and Selfies were being taken in the court for this purpose.

Hamza said he had left his house secretly without revealing the move to anyone. The media and workers got into action on their own. He, however, assured the court that a method would be devised to avoid happening of such situation in the court again.

Hamza’s counsel contended before the court his client has apprehension that he may be arrested in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case which is pending with an accountability court in Lahore. He said the bureau also wanted to arrest the PML-N leader in the Saaf Pani Company scam. He argued that the corruption watchdog is trying to harass and arrest Hamza without any plausible reason. He pleaded with the court to grant his client bail in the two cases. He pointed out that previously, the NAB had “called politicians in one case and arrested them in another case”. The PML-N leader was fearful that the same would happen to him.

During the hearing, Hamza’s lawyer revealed that in a notice issued last night, the provincial opposition leader was summoned by the NAB in a money laundering and assets beyond means case for Wednesday. The lawyer recalled that the LHC had granted Hamza bail in one of the cases against him. He said the PML-N leader had been indicted in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case and therefore they were fearful that the NAB would arrest him.

On Monday, the LHC had approved a pre-arrest bail for Hamza till April 17 and restrained the NAB from arresting him until then in a case of alleged assets beyond means.