Shehbaz, Hamza acquitted in Ramzan Sugar Mills case

LAHORE: An anti-corruption court in Lahore on Thursday acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case.

Anti-Corruption Court Judge Sardar Iqbal Dogar announced the verdict, which was reserved on Monday.

The said case pertains to allegations accusing PM Shehbaz, then-Punjab chief minister, of misuse of authority by utilising public funds for the construction of a sludge carrier to facilitate the Ramzan Sugar Mills owned by his sons.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), in its reference filed on February 18, 2019, had accused PM Shehbaz of getting a 10-kilometre sludge carrier constructed in district Chiniot.

The anti-corruption bureau had alleged that the “project” had inflicted a loss of Rs213 million to the national exchequer.

The reference was reopened in November 2023 after the amendments — introduced by the coalition government of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — were struck down.

The premier, along with his son Hamza were indicted in the said case in 2019 and had then applied for transfer of the reference in September 2024 following the Supreme Court’s decision to restore amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance 1999.

This was followed by the transfer of the case from the accountability court to an anti-corruption court in October 2024, as the NAB could not prosecute alleged offences involving amounts less than Rs500 million.

During the case’s hearing, PM Shehbaz and Hamza’s lawyer Amjad Pervez argued that the complainant had confessed that the said sludge carrier was not constructed to only cater to the Ramzan Sugar Mills but instead was meant for the local area generally.

Noting that the complainant admitted to not accusing PM Shehbaz and Hamza of corruption in the first place, the counsel maintained that the complainant had apprised the NAB during the inquiry that he was not the complainant to begin with.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram slammed the acquittal of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza in what he claimed the open and shut mega Ramzan Sugar Mills corruption case through swift court proceedings.

Waqas lamented that those who stole the mandate crippled the country’s democratic, judicial and constitutional systems by making controversial constitutional tweaks and appointing undeserving and blue-eyed individuals to high-ranking positions to prolong their illegitimate rule and dodge accountability for their massive corruption scandals.

PTI spokesman urged that PTI founder should be permitted to hold regular communication with his sons, being his fundamental, legal and constitutional right.

Meanwhile, Waqas criticized Shehbaz Sharif for allegedly extending an olive branch to India for dialogue again, despite New Delhi’s persistent policy of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Waqas slammed Shehbaz Sharif for his apologetic stance, adding that he lacked both the vision and the public’s trust to tackle critical issues, as his short-sighted approach, driven by self-interest, had resulted in Pakistan’s global isolation.

He insisted that Shehbaz should prioritise Pakistan and Kashmir’s interests over his family’s business ties with Indian tycoons because Pakistan was incomplete without Kashmir and both these states were inseparable.

While expressing gratitude over the acquittal of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shehbaz Sharif in Ramazan Sugar Mills case, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said, “Alhamdulillah, Allah Almighty has vindicated us, we are grateful to Him.” She congratulated them on their acquittal and expressed good wishes for them.