PML(N) president Shehbaz Sharif got a breather ahead of his election as the Pakistan PM on Monday as the special FIA court adjourned the money laundering case against him.
The Federal Investigation Agency probe which started during Imran Khan’s tenure as the PM detected 28 Benami accounts of the Shehbaz Sharif’s family through which 14 billion Pakistani rupees were allegedly laundered from 2008 to 2018. Along with Sharif, his son Shehbaz and Suleman were booked by the FIA in November 2020 under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
While Hamza Shehbaz is the Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly and the opposition’s candidate for the Punjab CM’s post, Suleman Sharif resides in the UK and is yet to join the probe. While Hamza Shehbaz appeared before the court, his father sought an exemption from personal appearance.
Though both of them were set to be indicted in the money laundering case on Monday itself, the filing of the charge sheet was postponed. Thus, the case will now be heard on April 27. Last week, the special FIA court dismissed the agency’s petition to cancel the pre-arrest bail granted to the PML(N) chief.
A day earlier, former Pakistan Law Minister Fawad Chaudhry alleged that the FIA prosecution head in Lahore had been directed to not appear before the court so that the indictment is delayed. This assumes significance as senior FIA official Muhammad Rizwan who was leading the investigation teams into the cases against Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza Shehbaz, as well as rebel PTI leader Jahangir Tareen, resigned and went on leave. The Sharif family has insisted that this case is politically motivated reported Republic Network.
