LAHORE: A special court (offences in bank) on Saturday expressed its displeasure over one-year delay in submission of challan in the money laundering and sugar scam inquiry against Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz.

The court observed that the FIR was registered on November 14, 2020, and about one year time had elapsed but even incomplete investigation report could be submitted so far.

Asked about the progress in the investigation, a special prosecutor of the Federal Investigating Agency (FIA) told the court that the investigation team had been working day and night to conclude the investigation and hopefully the needful would be done within the coming month of November.

The investigating officer also assured the court that the complete report would be filed by November 20.

The court granted the required time to the FIA for the report and observed that the question of jurisdiction would be determined on next hearing. The court also extended the pre-arrest bails of Shehbaz and Hamza with a direction to the investigating officer to submit the report positively by November 20.

Earlier, Shehbaz and Hamza appeared before the court along with their proxy counsel.

The court was informed that lead counsel Amjad Pervez could not appear as he had been infected with dengue fever. The proxy counsel requested the court to adjourn hearing for the arguments on the point of jurisdiction raised by the FIA. Shehbaz talking to media persons said dialogue was the best way to deal with the protest by proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan.

About the case against him, he said the allegations levelled by the FIA were already a subject of a pending trial in a reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau. The opposition leader said he had been implicated in fabricated cases.

The FIA had booked Shehbaz and his sons Hamza and Suleman in November 2020. Suleman Shehbaz is absconding in the UK.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021