Hamza gets interim bail in Ramzan Sugar Mills, Saaf Pani cases

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday granted interim bail to Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz Sharif until April 17 in the Ramzan Sugar Mills and Saaf Pani Company cases, ARY News reported.

A division bench, headed by Justice Malik Shehzad Ahmed Malik, approved the bail of the PML-N leader against two surety of bonds of Rs10 million. The court issued a notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit its reply until next hearing.

Hamza along with his lawyer Azam Nazeer Tarar appeared in the court. At the start of the hearing, the bench expressed displeasure over lawyers and PML-N activists who accompanied the opposition leader inside the courtroom and directed them to leave.

Tarar contended before the court his client had apprehension that he may be arrested in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case which is pending in an accountability court in Lahore. He said the bureau also wanted to arrest the PML-N leader in the Saaf Pani Company scam.

He argued that the corruption watchdog was trying to harass and arrest Hamza without any plausible reason. He pleaded to the court to grant his client bail in the two cases.

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

Earlier, on April 9, an accountability court in Lahore had indicted Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz in the Ramzan Sugar Mills reference.

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.