The impeachment of Shehbaz and Hamza has been suspended.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz, were indicted in a Rs16 billion money laundering case on Saturday, but the premier filed an appeal to be spared from the hearing.
Last month, a special court in Lahore ordered Shehbaz and Hamza to appear at the next hearing date (May 14) for the drafting of charges against them.
When the hearing started today, Mohammad Amjad Pervaiz, Shehbaz’s lawyer, filed an application for Shehbaz’s exemption from appearance.
Shehbaz was due to return from his travel to the United Kingdom on March 31, according to the application.
Shehbaz was a cancer survivor and a chronic backache sufferer, and his medical checkup had been long overdue since the previous PTI government refused to let him fly overseas, according to the statement.
Shehbaz also had to rearrange his return to visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to express his condolences on the death of the country’s president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, according to the application.
“The petitioner’s non-appearance is not malicious nor purposeful; rather, it is due to the above-mentioned reason,” it continued.
Presiding Judge Ijaz Hassan Awan of the Special Court (Central-I) granted the application and extended Shehbaz and Hamza’s pre-arrest bails till May 21.
Shehbaz and his sons Hamza and Suleman were arrested in November 2020 by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on sections 419, 420, 468, 471, 34, and 109 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, as well as r/w 3/4 of the Anti Money Laundering Act. Suleman Shehbaz has been proclaimed an absconder in the United Kingdom.
The FIR also names Fourteethers under the Prevention of Corruption Act’s sections 5(2) and 5(3) (criminal misconduct).
Shehbaz and Hamza were granted pre-arrest bail by a special court on January 27.
Judge Awan had previously stated during the hearing that the proceedings could not advance due to the exemption application.
Farooq Bajwa, an FIA prosecutor, said the agency had no objections to the application.
