Islamabad, May 28 (UNI) Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday testified in a special court hearing the Rs16 billion money laundering case against him, Dawn reported.
Sharif told the court that he refused any salary or benefits when he was chief minister of Punjab, when the hearing in the case was going on.
His son and incumbent Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz was also present in the court during the hearing of the case in which he too has been named along with their family by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
Presiding judge of the Special Court (Central-I), Ijaz Hassan Awan, had extended their interim bails in the case till May 28 during the hearing last week.
When the hearing resumed, the judge pointed out to FIA prosecutor Farooq Bajwa that the agency’s report regarding the arrest of Shehbaz’s son, Suleman Shehbaz, and other suspects had contradictory statements. to which Bajwa responded saying that the address did exist but the suspect could not be found at that location.
The judge noted that the report also failed to mention other routine details on Suleman and another suspect Tahir Naqvi.
The FIA prosecutor said the agency would re-issue the arrest warrants and submit a fresh report to the court.
Judge Awan then noted that another suspect, Ghulam Shabbar, had passed away, to which Bajwa replied that the suspect’s death certificate was a year old and the inquiry had started prior to his death and that he would submit a detailed response.
The judge asked the investigation officer to inform the court about the extent of the investigation conducted with regard to Shabbar. “Apparently, this challan will have to be re-submitted.”
The court adjourned the hearing after extending the interim bail of PM Shehbaz and Hamza till June 4 and directing Hamza’s lawyer to present his arguments at the next hearing.
