Shahbaz bail extended till Aug 17: LHC judge recuses himself from case hearing

LAHORE: A Lahore High Court (LHC) two-member bench, hearing pre-arrest bail petition of leader of the opposition in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif into an assets beyond means case, stood dissolved on Thursday after one of the judges recused himself from the bench.

Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan had constituted a bench comprising Justice Chaudhry Shahram Sarwar and Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh to hear NAB related cases during the current week of summer vacations. At the outset of the hearing, Justice Sarwar declined to hear the case, citing his personal relations with Sharif’s leading counsel Azam Nazir Tarar. The bench extended Shahbaz Sharif bail till August 17 and referred the case to chief justice for its fixation before another bench.

Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif appeared before the court. He stated that last time when he appeared before the NAB authorities, he was told him that investigation had been completed. He said if they still wanted to ask him anything they could do it right now. He said he had himself returned to the country without caring about his illness.

The petitioner’s counsel had argued that the petitioner was arrested on Oct 5, 2018 in other cases (Ramzan Sugar Mills and Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme) and was in custody of NAB when the impugned inquiry into assets was authorised on Oct 23.

He pointed out that petitioner was thoroughly investigated regarding all his assets and the officials of the respondent bureau could not confront him with any evidence to suggest any nexus of misuse or abuse of office with the amassing of any assets. He stated that Shahbaz extended full cooperation and furnished whatever information was required by the bureau and his intended arrest at this stage was nothing but sheer mala fide.

“Any move to arrest the petitioner at this juncture smacks volumes of mala fide on part of the prosecution,” added the petition.

He pleaded that the petitioner had been regularly declaring his assets in due course before the authorities concerned. Shahbaz stated in the petition that he, being 69 years old and a cancer survivor, had been advised restricted movement and limited exposure due to life threatening risks on account of COVID-19 pandemic.

Later, talking to the media, Shahbaz Sharif said the incumbent government was targeting PML-N as it was using NAB to subject party to political victimisation. He said the Supreme Court verdict in Khwaja brothers’ case had exposed its performance and cemented party's stance that the Bureau was being used for political engineering. It has become the talk of the town that NAB has become a controversial institution, he added.