LHC stops NAB from arresting Hamza Shehbaz until April 17

 The Lahore High Court (LHC) accepted on Monday the request of Leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz and extended his interim bail till April 17.

Hamza appeared before the court amid strict security and was represented by Advocate Amjad Pervez. Judge Malik Shahzad accepted the bail petition of the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) leader and has restrained the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting Hamza until further notice, local media reported.

The high court has directed Hamza to submit bail bonds worth Rs10 million. The court has also sought a detailed reply from NAB.

Following the raid of NAB which took place twice at the PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif's house last week, Hamza had filed a petition in the high court requesting it to bar the bureau from arresting him. The LHC accepted the petition and had fixed the date for April 8 (today) to hear the petition.

The LHC had also barred the bureau from arresting Hamza till the case proceedings. On Saturday, for more than four hours NAB stood outside the residence as Hamza refused to surrender to it. A large number of PML-N workers staged a sit-in outside the residence. The police and party workers also clashed as they tried to reach the entrance of residence.

NAB wants to arrest the PML-N leader in a case pertaining to assets beyond known source of income and had come to raid the residence in Lahore with an arrest warrant.