LAHORE: A special court on Thursday dismissed an application of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) seeking a day-to-day hearing of the money laundering case against Leader of Opposition in National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif and others.
Shehbaz and his son Hamza appeared before the court on the expiry of their pre-arrest bails in the case.
During the hearing, Advocate Amjad Pervez who appeared on behalf of Hamza, informed the court that the main counsel in the case Azam Nazir Tarar was busy in the Supreme Court (SC).
The judge showed displeasure over Tarar’s absence and remarked that he submitted an application challenging jurisdiction of the court and himself disappeared.
However, Pervez insisted that SC’s cause list is available which showed Tarar’s engagements in the apex court. He requested the court to decide the jurisdiction issue in the next hearing.
This infuriated the judge, and he hinted at framing charges against the suspects, remarking that he cannot sit idle.
However, the counsel said the trial cannot begin because complete copies of the police record have not been provided to the suspects.
He pointed out that FIA did not provide copies of the bank employees’ statements.
An FIA prosecutor informed the court that the prosecution wanted a day-to-day hearing in the case. The judge remarked that if FIA had such urgency, why challan was submitted so late.
Read more: Court delayed indictment of Shehbaz & Hamza Shehbaz in money laundering case
Hamza’s counsel argued that he would have no objection to the prosecution’s request if the court would hold daily proceedings in other cases as well.
He said cases were already pending against the suspects before other courts on similar allegations, wherein they had been granted bails.
The counsel asked the court to confirm the bails of the suspects in the instant case as well.
Through another application, the prosecution sought action against Shehbaz and other suspects on contempt of court charges.
The application accused Shehbaz of delaying the process of the indictment and interrupting the proceedings of court by delivering a time-wasting speech at the last hearing.
It said the speech was absolutely irrelevant to the facts and proceedings of the case and amounted to wilfully interrupting the judicial proceedings.
It accused another suspect of delaying the trial proceedings by moving an application challenging the jurisdiction of the court.
The suspect’s lawyer said it is against fundamental rights to set only one case for speedy hearing except for the remaining cases, adding that the FIA has made this case on political grounds.
The main purpose of this case is the media trial of suspects, he asserted.
Background
FIA had booked Shehbaz and his sons, Hamza and Suleman, who is an absconder, in November 2020 under different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), Prevention of Corruption Act, and Anti-Money Laundering Act.
The court adjourned the hearing for tomorrow and asked the defense to extend arguments on the application regarding the jurisdiction of the court.
The court also extended the bail of both suspects till tomorrow.
The challan submitted by the FIA comprises 66 pages along with seven additional volumes comprising 4,370 pages of documentary evidence. The FIA nominated Shehbaz and his sons — Hamza and Suleman — as the principal accused in the case.
