Hamza Shehbaz’s Indictment Deferred Again In Ramazan Sugar Mills Case Till June 5

(@fidahassanain)

Hamza Shehbaz’s indictment deferred again in Ramazan Sugar Mills case till June 5

The NAB officials did not produce Hamza Shehbaz, who is also Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly, before the court due to ongoing Coronavirus situation.

LAHORE: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-May 12th, 2020) An accountability court once again postponed till June 5 indictment of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shahbaz in Ramzan Sugar Mills case here on Tuesday

Accountability court judge Amjad Nazir Chaudhry presided over today’s proceedings while Hamza was not produced before the court due to coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Hamza Shehbaz, who is also Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly was due before the court for his indictment.

It is for the third time that indictment of Hamza Shehbaz was deferred as the NAB officials did not produce him before the court due ongoing Coronavirus situation.

Meanwhile, the court took up the matter of Ashina Housing Scheme scam. However, Advocate Muhammad Nawaz Chaudhary, the counsel of Shehbaz Sharif, did not appear before the court due to Coronavirus.

The counsel filed plea that he was unable to appear due to Coronavirus which the court accepted and allowed him exemption due to the virus. However, the court issued notice to NAB on plea of co-accused Imtiaz Haider seeking acquittal in the case and put off further hearing until June 5.

Senior bureaucrats including former DG LDA Ahad Cheema, Principal Secretary to former PM Nawaz Sharif Fawad Hassan Fawad are the other accused in the matter. The NAB said that former Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif misused his authority regarding the project meant for homeless people and got constructed a 10-km sludge carrier in district Chiniot to facilitate Ramzan Sugar Mills owned by his sons. The act of Shehbaz Sharif, the NAB said, caused huge loss of Rs. 213 million to the national exchequer.

The NAB also said that the approval of the construction was given on a fake application filed by the then MPA Maulana Rehmatullah, showing the drain as a public project and public funds were misused for the benefit of the Sharif’s family business.

It may also be mentioned here that Mir Shakil ur Rehman, owner of Geo and Jang media group, will also be produced before the NAB court in alleged illegal property case.

Fida Hussnain

Fida Hussnain is a lahore based journalist. He writes on politics, religion, social issues and climate change. He is also a research fellow at University of Gujrat.