Shehbaz, Hamza plead innocence as court indicts them in Ramzan Sugar Mills case

LAHORE: An accountability court in Lahore on Tuesday indicted Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz – opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly – in the Ramzan Sugar Mills reference, ARY News reported.

Accountability Judge Najamul Hassan read out charges against them. The father-son duo denied charges and opted to contest them.

The judge allowed Shehbaz and Hamza to leave the court after framing charges against them.

Over the course of the hearing, Shehbaz tried to say something in his defence but the judge stopped him. “I saved hundreds of billions of rupees of the government over 10 years,” the PML-N president said, questioning how could he have used the national kitty for the construction of a drain.

The judge assured him that he will be given a fair hearing. “These are just allegations against you, which are yet to be proved,” he added.

Strict security arrangements were made with a good number of security personnel deployed at the court to avoid any untoward incident.

In the previous hearing on March 27, the court had postponed the indictment of Shehbaz Sharif and his son in the Ramzan Sugar Mills reference. Sharifs’ lawyer had requested the court to postpone the indictment.

Read Also: LHC grants bail to Hamza, bars NAB from arresting him until 17th

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has filed a reference, accusing the former Punjab chief minister of causing loss to the national exchequer and misusing his authority by sanctioning construction of a bridge to facilitate his sugar mill.

NAB officials said Shehbaz, being chief minister of Punjab, misused his authority by issuing directives for the construction of a 10 kilometer long drain in Chiniot district primarily to benefit the sugar mills his sons owned. Shehbaz and Hamza have been accused of fraudulently causing a Rs213 million loss to the national exchequer.

Last year in Oct, Shahbaz Sharif was taken into custody by the National Accountability Bureau Lahore in connection with the Ashiana Housing and Ramzan Sugar Mills cases.