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

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday granted interim bail to Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz, ARY News reported.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Malik Shehzad Ahmed Khan  approved the bail of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) leader against a surety of Rs10 million until April 17, restraining the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting him till further orders.

The court directed the corruption watchdog to submit its response to the petition until the next hearing.

The NAB prosecutor stated before the court that Hamza’s custody was needed in the assets beyond means case for questioning, adding the bureau wanted to interrogate the accused on the basis of some concrete material it had gathered.

He said the bureau was probing three cases against the petitioner which related to Ramzan Sugar Mills, Saaf Pani and assets beyond means.

Hamza’s lawyer, however, stated that the court had directed NAB to inform Hamza 10 days in advance if it intended to arrest him but it flouted its orders and attempted to arrest him.

LHC Chief Justice Sardar Shamim Ahmed had earlier on April 6 barred the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting Hamza. Subsequently, a NAB team which had laid siege to PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif’s Model Town residence to arrest his son had to leave without Hamza.

The chief justice granted interim bail to Hamza until April 8 (Monday) so that he would be able to approach the bench concerned for the hearing of a bail plea he had filed on April 4.

On Saturday afternoon, the NAB team had to leave the Model Town residence of Shehbaz Sharif without arresting his son Hamza after over five-hour long standoff. According to a NAB spokesman, the raiding team was called back after the high court granted interim relief to the accused.

Read Also: NAB finds concrete evidences of money laundering against Hamza

Earlier, on April 5, the bureau’s team comprising nine officials had raided 96 H residence of Hamza Shehbaz along with his arrest warrants issued by NAB Chairman Justice (retired) Javed Iqbal in an assets beyond means and money laundering case.

However, PML-N activists and the Sharif family’s guards prevented the team from arresting Hamza.

The raid was conducted after Hamza who was due to appear on Friday at 10am before the Combined Investigation Team of the NAB failed to appear. A number of PML-N workers started gathering outside the 96-H residence and staged a sit-in in front of the gate and forced the NAB team to leave.

According to NAB, one of its officers was manhandled and his clothes were torn apart by the PML-N workers.