LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday granted pre-arrest bail to Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and restrained the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting him till June 17 in an investigation of assets beyond means case.
On Tuesday, a team of the NAB had raided Model Town residence of Shehbaz to arrest him after he skipped appearance before a combined investigation team of the bureau. However, the raiding team did not find him there and returned empty-handed.
A large number of PML-N workers had already gathered at the LHC premises while Shehbaz arrived around 12pm to attend proceedings of his bail petition before a two-judge bench.
Senior leaders of the party including Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Sanaullah Khan, Khwaja Saad Rafiq, Tariq Fazal Ch, Maryam Aurangzeb and Azma Bokhari also reached the court before the hearing.
A heavy contingent of police was deployed in and outside the high court while barricades were also erected in the surrounding area apparently to stop political workers from reaching the court.
The courtroom was completely packed when the bench commenced hearing of the bail petition. The security personnel failed to enforce Covid-19 pandemic SOPs including social distancing inside the courtroom.
"Where is the petitioner?" Justice Muhammad Tariq Abbasi, who headed the bench, asked the lawyers standing behind the rostrum.
Advocate Azam Nazir Tarar told the bench that Shehbaz petitioner was present in the court. He said his client was a cancer patient.
Justice Abbasi asked the counsel whether the petitioner had apprehension of his arrest by the NAB. With an answer in affirmative, the counsel said the NAB had also arrested the petitioner on Oct 5, 2018, in Punjab Ashiana Iqbal Housing Scheme when he appeared before the investigators in Saaf Pani Company case. He said the bureau kept the petitioner in its custody for 63 days and also caused his arrest in another case of Ramazan Sugar Mills while it failed to establish any charge against him. He said the NAB once again wanted to arrest the petitioner. The judge asked NAB Special Prosecutor Faisal Bokhari whether the prosecution will say something or act like a silent spectator. He said the NAB will oppose the bail petition.
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