Money-laundering reference Shahbaz granted bail

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday granted post-arrest bail to Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif in a money-laundering reference filed against his family by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar allowed the bail petition of Shahbaz after NAB Special Prosecutor Faisal Raza Bokhari concluded his arguments. The bench observed that the trial proceedings, as per a report submitted to the Supreme Court by the relevant accountability court, would take at least one year to be concluded. It observed that the trial court has been still awaiting a new incumbent since the transfer of its presiding judge.

Bokhari argued that the declared assets of the Shahbaz family before 1990 were Rs10.65 million. He said the worth of the assets owned by the petitioner’s family swelled to over Rs 7 billion.

“Is it not the job of the FBR to inspect sources of income of a person?” asked the bench. Shahbaz’s counsel Azam Nazir Tarar pointed out that the FBR had already held an audit of the petitioner’s assets and accounts but found nothing wrong. He said Shahbaz’s wife Nusrat, sons, daughters and Benamidars received huge amounts in their accounts through TTs. However, the bench asked the prosecutor to tell it something about Shahbaz. The prosecutor said all Benamidars received money on behalf of Shahbaz.

After hearing the arguments, the bench rose and reassembled after a few minutes to announce a short order allowing the petition. Justice Asjad Javed Ghural was the other member of the bench. Shahbaz was directed to furnish bail bonds worth Rs5 million.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz expressed gratitude over the decision of granting bail to PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif. In a statement issued Wednesday, Hamza said he was grateful to the prayers of people and party workers. He said they should perform ‘Sajdah-e-Shukr’ before Allah Almighty for his kindness and for making the servant of people Shahbaz successful in the eyes of people and the law.