A special court central in the Punjab capital on Saturday approved extension in bail of Suleman Shehbaz, the son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in the money laundering case. Suleman Shehbaz appeared before court after his bail expired on Jan 7 where his attendance was marked. His lawyer informed the judge that his client had joined investigation in the case. The judge granted bail to the premier’s son till Jan 21 while directing the investigation officer of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to submit its complete probe report in next hearing of the case. Last month, he was granted bail till Jan 7 against surety bonds worth Rs500,000.

The premier’s son in his petition argued that he was booked in the case without any valid reason. Suleman said he was declared proclaimed offender in the case without intimating him, adding that he did not receive any summons from court. He also said legal formalities required for declaring a suspect proclaimed offender were not fulfilled in his case. Raising the objections, he requested court to grant him interim bail in the case. In December last, Suleman surrendered before the Islamabad High Court after he returned to Pakistan, ending his four-year exile in London. On Dec 13, the IHC granted 14-day protective bail in the money- laundering case.

Suleman had been in London since 2018 when the NAB and the FIA launched multiple cases against him ahead of the general election and he moved out of Pakistan after appearing in a few hearings. He had been declared absconder for not appearing before courts. On Dec 7, the son of PM Shehbaz announced that he would end his exile and filed a petition in the IHC to seek protective bail in the case. “Despite the fact I have been living in the UK since Oct 27, 2018, I had never received a notice from the FIA, who had filed a case against me while I was away. I left the country in 2018, but the case was only lodged in 2020 and afterwards. The court should set protective bail of two weeks,” he argued in his petition.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP