The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday restrained the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz, while granting him pre-arrest bail till April 17 in cases pertaining to ownership of assets beyond means. A two-judge bench headed by Justice Malik Shehzad Ahmed Khan, which heard the PML-N leader’s bail petition, sought a detailed reply from NAB, and also directed Hamza to submit bail bonds worth Rs10 million.
NAB had carried out two successive raids on Friday and Saturday at PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif’s Model Town residence to arrest Hamza.
NAB summons Shehbaz today in money laundering case
At the hearing started, the court inquired from NAB prosecutors under which cases they want to arrest Hamza, to which the watchdog responded that three cases are under investigation against the PML-N leader. “We want to arrest Hamza in assets beyond means case, while arrest warrants have not been issued in Saaf Paani and Ramzan Sugar Mills cases,” the prosecutors stated.
Hamza’s lawyer told the court, “In an earlier order, the high court had directed that Hamza be informed 10 days prior to his arrest. The LHC had granted bail to my client in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case.”