SC summons details of all NAB Lahore pending cases

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court on Tuesday summoned details of all National Accountability Bureau cases pending in court.

A three-member bench led by Justice Mushir Alam and comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Yahyah Afridi heard a petition filed by PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz seeking post-arrest bail in a case pertaining to money laundering and assets beyond means of income. 

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During the hearing, Hamza's counsel Advocated Amjad Pervaiz said his client was arrested on June 11 2019, a reference was filed in against him in August 2020 and he was indicted on November 11 2020. The lawyer maintained that the anti-graft watchdog has, to date, recorded statement of only three witnesses out of 110 listed.

Observing that the case pertained to 23 fake accounts, Justice Alam asked whether the counsel wanted his client to be given a chance to respond. 

Justice Afridi asked NAB how much time was required to record witness statements. "Six months," replied Additional Prosecutor Imranul Haq. When Justice Alam questioned why it was taking so long, Haq argued that the witnesses were employed by the Sharif family hence it was proving difficult to call them to record statements. 

Justice Alam asked the bureau why other accused in the case have not been arrested yet. "They have been declared absconders," said Haq. To this, Justice Masood observed that the anti-graft watchdog "arrests one and lets other accused roam free" and questioned why the bureau had not confiscated properties of the accused yet. 

"One day, we will summon all NAB filed and check daily proceedings. The bureau has locked up people. It is unfair," he remarked, as the court sought details of all pending NAB cases. 

The bench adjourned hearing for an indefinite period. 

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Case background

On June 11 last year, NAB had arrested Hamza after the Lahore High Court rejected his interim bail in the Ramzan Sugar Mills and money laundering cases.

On November 11 this year, an accountability court in Lahore had indicted Shahbaz Sharif, Hamza Shahbaz, and others in a money laundering case. The suspects, however, pleaded not guilty.

Speaking to media outside the courtroom, Shahbaz had dismissed the NAB cases as “baseless” and termed them politically-motivated.

The former chief minister is accused of accumulating assets worth Rs7,328 million in connivance with his co-accused family members, benamidars, front persons and close associations and for developing an organised system of money laundering.

The anti-graft watchdog has nominated a total of 20 individuals in the reference – Shahbaz’s wife Nusrat, his sons Hamza and Suleman, and daughters Rabia Imran and Javeria Ali.