LHC defers hearing of Hamza Shehbaz's bail petition

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has deferred the hearing of bail petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz in money laundering case, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The high court conducted the hearing of Hamza Shehbaz’s bail plea in money laundering case. However, the hearing was deferred till February 23 without any proceedings on the plea. The high court had sought a response from the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

In its petition, Hamza Shehbaz stated that 16 persons were nominated in the case, however, 11 accused are facing trial. It added that there was no hope of early conclusion of the trial as all accused have their own counsels.

It further stated that keeping an accused under custody for a long time was tantamount to penalising him. The petitioner sought the acceptance of the bail petition.

Read: PML-N submits parole plea for release of Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza Shehbaz

Earlier in January, the Supreme Court (SC) had dismissed the bail petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz in money laundering case after he decided to withdraw it.

Justice Masood had questioned the lawyer whether the petitioner would continue to pursue the case or withdraw his plea. He had maintained that the case was not filed in the high court on the grounds of hardship. It is appropriate to move to the high court after the issuance of a report of the accountability court.

During the hearing, the lawyer said that no one could be kept under custody for an indefinite period, whereas, the reference was filed for Rs530 million instead of Rs7 billion. He had continued that the reference was not filed against Hamza Shehbaz when he moved to the top court to get bail.