Court summons jail official over failure to present Shehbaz

LAHORE: An accountability court on Friday summoned a jail superintendent over failure to produce Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case.

The accountability judge directed the jail official to appear in the court within two hours to explain his position.

A National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor also informed the judge about Shehbaz’s presence in Islamabad. “If he is in Islamabad why an extension in his transit remand was not sought,” questioned the judge.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president, who is in judicial custody in the Ashiana Iqbal Housing Scheme, had also been arrested by NAB in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case in November last year.

The opposition leader’s residence in Ministers’ Enclave in the federal capital has been declared a sub-jail to detain him.

During the previous hearing, the NAB prosecutor said, “We are arresting Shehbaz today on November 10 in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case.” He said NAB had evidence against the PML-N president in the case.

It is pertinent to mention here that the anti-graft watchdog had earlier summoned Hamza Shehbaz and Salman Shehbaz who are directors of the Ramzan Sugar Mills, for questioning in connection with a probe into the construction of a bridge at taxpayers’ expense to facilitate their business.

Sources relayed that around Rs200 millions were paid illegally from the national exchequer for the construction of the bridge.