LHC grants interim bail to Hamza till 17th

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday granted interim bail to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shahbaz in assets beyond means case till April 17, directing him to submit surety bonds of Rs10 million for availing the relief of interim bail.

A division bench comprising Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan and Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf passed the order while hearing a pre-arrest bail petition filed by Hamza who appeared in the court along with his counsel.

To a court’s query, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor submitted that the petitioner was facing three cases — assets beyond means, Saaf Pani and Ramzan Sugar Mills — and the bureau wanted to arrest him in the assets beyond means case, whereas no arrest warrants had been issued in other two cases as yet.

Hamza’s counsel Azam Nazir Tarar advocate argued that his client approached the LHC on November 1 last year for bail but his petition was disposed of after the NAB told the court that it did not want to arrest Hamza as yet. He said the bench ordered the NAB to inform the petitioner at least 10 days before his arrest, if it wanted to arrest him in future so that he could approach the court for remedy.

He submitted the bureau violated the court directions and raided his client’s house for arrest but the same could not happen due to protest by PML-N workers. He said all allegations against his client were mala fide and requested the court for the relief of bail. However, NAB prosecutor argued that the bureau was not bound to inform the petitioner in advance as per a Supreme Court judgment and all the steps taken by NAB were in accordance with the law. He alleged the bureau had detected an illegal transaction of Rs3 billion in Hamza’s account and it was feared that if he was granted bail then the witnesses would be threatened and record could be tempered with. He pleaded the court to dismiss the bail request.

However, the bench after hearing initial arguments granted interim bail to Hamza till April 17 and sought reply and para wise comments from NAB by the next date of hearing.A large number of PML-N workers were also present to show their support for Hamza, whereas strict security arrangements were made on the occasion. It is pertinent to mention here that LHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan had granted a two-day protective bail to Hamza on Saturday to enable him to approach the bench concerned for hearing of his bail petition.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Mushtaq, an alleged frontman of Hamza, was arrested from Lahore Airport by a federal agency while allegedly attempting to flee abroad and the suspect had been handed over to the NAB.

The arrest was an important development in the under investigation assets beyond means cases against former chief minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, Hamza and Salman Shahbaz, said a press release issued here.

It said Mushtaq through illegal transactions had deposited at least Rs500 million in his own account and then transferred the money into Salman’s account. Mushtaq would be produced in the Accountability Court on Tuesday (today) for physical remand, it said.