LAHORE: On Monday, a special anti-corruption court issued a notice to the prosecution regarding the acquittal pleas filed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Hamza Shehbaz, in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case.
Judge Sardar Iqbal Dogar conducted the proceedings, during which defense lawyer Amjad Pervez submitted the acquittal applications on behalf of the PM and his son. The lawyer argued that there was insufficient evidence of the alleged corruption, making a conviction unlikely. He requested that the court accept the applications and acquit his clients of the charges.
The judge adjourned the hearing until January 6 and instructed the prosecution to submit their responses to the acquittal requests. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was represented by his legal counsel, Anwaar Hussain, while Hamza was granted exemption from attending the hearing due to a back injury.
In October, the accountability court transferred the Ramzan Sugar Mills reference to the anti-corruption court after jurisdictional amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance 1999. Under the new law, the NAB cannot prosecute cases involving sums less than Rs500 million, and the alleged corruption in this case amounted to Rs213 million, below the threshold for NAB jurisdiction.
The NAB’s 2018 reference accused Shehbaz, as chief minister, and Hamza of causing a Rs213 million loss to the national exchequer by misusing authority. It claimed that Shehbaz had ordered the construction of a drain in Chiniot district primarily for the benefit of the Ramzan Sugar Mills, owned by his sons, Hamza and Suleman.
