LAHORE: A special court on Saturday adjourned hearing of a case, registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, his son Hamza Shehbaz and others, till October 11.
Special Court (Central-1) Judge Ijaz Hassan Awan conducted the case proceedings, wherein the prime minister also appeared.
At the start of proceedings, Hamza Shehbaz’s counsel submitted that his client had back pain and an application had been submitted for his exemption from personal appearance for one-day, adding that a medical certificate had also been attached with it.
Advocate Amjad Pervaiz advanced his arguments on the application, filed by the premier for his acquittal in the case. He submitted that the agency had removed charges of Rs 9 billion from the challan. He submitted that the amount was transacted through five accounts, but these accounts were not associated with Suleman, Hamza or the Sharif Group. He submitted that the accounts belonged to Mushtaq Cheeni, but the agency had not yet initiated any inquiry against him. He submitted that the kickbacks and bribes mentioned in the FIR were just tales, which had not been made part of the challan.
He submitted that the Lahore High Court (LHC) recently quashed an identical case against Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Moonis Elahi.
The court questioned whether the detailed judgment of Moonis Elahi case had been issued.
Amjad Pervaiz submitted that the judgement had been issued and its verified copy would be presented in the court shortly, adding that indictment in the current case was not possible nor could it continue any further.
To a court query about accused Maqsood, he submitted that he passed away earlier this year, but he was never interrogated by the agency.
To another court query about the status of Maqsood, he submitted that he used to pay tax and was also audited, adding that he was no longer alive, so nothing could be said about him.
Amjad Pervaiz submitted that it was a politically motivated case and lacked evidence, adding that it was just a story written by the then interior minister.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took to the rostrum at this stage and submitted that he served the nation for the past twelve-and-a-half years, but never withdrew salary and other benefits, which amounted to Rs 100 million. He questioned whether it was believable that he received Rs2.5 million?
The court adjourned the hearing for a short while and allowed the prime minister to leave the courtroom after a request for the purpose.
As the proceedings resumed, Advocate Amjad Pervaiz continued his arguments and submitted that there were no charges of bribery against the prime minister and Hamza Shehbaz, adding that opening a benamidar account or operating it could not be called money laundering. He submitted that the agency willingly concealed the statements of the bankers.
However, the FIA prosecutor replied that their statements were not required, hence their statements were not made part of the challan.
To a court query, Amjad Pervaiz submitted that the rest of the accused were charged with aiding and abetting, adding that there were only three main suspects in the case.
Subsequently, the court asked Amjad Pervaiz to prepare a table comprising evidence against every charge in the case while adjourning further hearing till October 11.
