Money laundering: Court exempts PM Shehbaz Sharif from appearance

LAHORE: Special court on Tuesday granted exemption from court appearance to prime minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif in a money laundering case, ARY News reported.

PM Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza are facing a case of Rs16 billion in money laundering through fake companies.

At the start of today’s hearing, PM Shehbaz Sharif’s counsel submitted a plea seeking exemption from the court appearance, citing the engagement of the premier in the important matters of the country.

The counsel pleaded with the court to grant one-day exemption to PM Shehbaz Sharif from the court appearance, which was accepted by the court.

In the last hearing, PM Shehbaz told the court that he, in his capacity as the chief minister of Punjab for 20 years, made decisions that “hurt” his family’s sugar business.

“I was requested to provide subsidy to sugar mills, but I refused. I refused as the amount (that would be used for subsidy) was of the poor people in Punjab,” PM Shehbaz Sharif had said.

The PM termed the money laundering case against him as “fake” and said that he never provided a subsidy to sugar mills.