Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday granted pre-arrest bail to Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif till June 17, a day after National Accountability Bureau (NAB)’s raid to his residence in Lahore’s Model Town.
DAWN reported that during the hearing in LHC, Sharif's lawyers claimed that even though he was summoned by NAB on June 2, warrants were dated May 28, implying that the corruption watchdog had already decided to arrest him. In reply to this argument, NAB's counsel responded by saying that warrants were issued when there was enough evidence to make an arrest.
While granting pre-arrest bail to Sharif, the court directed him to submit a surety bond worth Rs 500,000.
Sharif's legal team had filed the pre-arrest bail petition on June 1, a day before he was required to appear before an investigation team of NAB. However, the bail petition could not be fixed for hearing before the bench yesterday. NAB has filed a case against the leader of opposition related to money laundering and assets beyond known sources of income.
Yesterday, for the third time, Shehbaz had refused to appear before NAB, citing health concerns. In a statement submitted to the bureau, he said: "It has been widely reported in the media that some NAB officials have tested positive for Covid-19. I am a cancer survivor and 69 years old man who has been advised limited exposure on account of the peculiar background of low immunity.”
He added that he was available to answer any queries by the investigation team via Skype.
DAWN reported that during the hearing in LHC, Sharif's lawyers claimed that even though he was summoned by NAB on June 2, warrants were dated May 28, implying that the corruption watchdog had already decided to arrest him. In reply to this argument, NAB's counsel responded by saying that warrants were issued when there was enough evidence to make an arrest.
While granting pre-arrest bail to Sharif, the court directed him to submit a surety bond worth Rs 500,000.
Sharif's legal team had filed the pre-arrest bail petition on June 1, a day before he was required to appear before an investigation team of NAB. However, the bail petition could not be fixed for hearing before the bench yesterday. NAB has filed a case against the leader of opposition related to money laundering and assets beyond known sources of income.
Yesterday, for the third time, Shehbaz had refused to appear before NAB, citing health concerns. In a statement submitted to the bureau, he said: "It has been widely reported in the media that some NAB officials have tested positive for Covid-19. I am a cancer survivor and 69 years old man who has been advised limited exposure on account of the peculiar background of low immunity.”
He added that he was available to answer any queries by the investigation team via Skype.