LAHORE, June 13(ABC): A special court in the city said Monday that “no evidence of corruption, misuse of authority, and bribery” was so far found on record against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Chief Minister Punjab Hamza Shahbaz, in the Rs16 billion money laundering case.
In a written order for confirming their pre-arrest bail, the higher court said the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) wanted to arrest PM Shehbaz and CM Hamza after they secured bails in the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) cases, showing that the FIA had “mala fide” intentions.
The special court, which was hearing the Rs16 billion money laundering case filed by the FIA against the premier and Hamza, granted the two pre-arrest bail last week.
“…allegation about gratification, corrupt practice, abuse of official authority, kickbacks, and commission requires further probe during the trial as at this stage cogent evidence is not available,” the order read.
The order said that the investigation office (IO), to date, has not mentioned in his diary that the petitioners were required to be in custody for further investigation.
The investigation of the case has been completed and the charge sheet has also been submitted, therefore, the arrests are not required, the special court said, explaining its decision to grant the petitioners bail.
The order mentioned that the statements of the 64 people recorded in the case — who had deposited the amounts — relate to Rs60.7 million and not Rs16 billion — as claimed by the FIA.
It added that in the statements of the 64 depositors, none mentioned the names of the prime minister and the chief minister. “Moreover, said statements do not spell out any bribery, kickbacks, or commission, etc.”
