LAHORE: A banking court on Saturday extended interim bails of President Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Hamza Shehbaz, in money laundering case till November 20, and asked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Lahore to submit an interim challan against them by mid of next month.
According to FIA sources, Shehbaz – also the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly – and Hamza appeared before the court after their interim bails expired today.
The banking court judge asked the FIA team how much more time they needed to submit a report after completing their probe.
“How much time does the FIA need to submit an interim report,” asked the judge.
“The FIA has received the material and after going through it will be made a part of the record,” the FIA lawyer told the court and hoped to submit the report by next month.
“The FIA should set a date for the submission of the interim challan, or the court will issue an order,” the judge remarked, adding that the issue of jurisdiction would also be resolved. “You can submit the report on each forum.”
November will start tomorrow, and by mid-November, the FIA should submit an interim challan, the banking court added.
Shehbaz also apprised the court that his lawyer Amjad Pervez was ill and so could not appear in the hearing.
The court later extended the interim bails of Shehbaz and Hamza till November 20, asking the FIA to submit the interim challan by mid of November.
Speaking to the media, Shehbaz reiterated that even after a year nothing had been proved against him.
“The case of FIA is the one made by the NAB [National Accountability Bureau]. Cases have been made against me that are based on lies,” said the PML-N leader.
Hamza also slammed the government for rising inflation and the current uncertain security situation in the country and added that the lies of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) giving five million jobs and 10 million houses to the masses had been exposed.