LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday granted pre-arrest bail till June 17 to Punjab’s former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif in assets beyond means case that is being investigated by the country’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The court’s division bench, headed by Justice Tariq Abbasi, heard the petition to stop the country’s anti-graft agency from making the arrest since Sharif was cooperating with the investigators.
“The court has accepted the pre-arrest bail plea of Mian Shahbaz Sharif and has restrained NAB from his arrest till June 17, 2020. The court asked the petitioner to furnish a bail bound worth half a million rupees,” Sharif’s lawyer, Azam Nazir Tarar, told Arab News after the proceedings.
The country’s anti-corruption body is investigating a matter related to the possession of assets beyond the politician’s stated means of income and alleged money laundering charges.
NAB summoned Sharif, who is also the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly of Pakistan, for investigation on June 2, but he did not appear before the authorities and sent a letter wherein he said that he was 69 years old and a cancer survivor and did not want to talk undue health risks during the time of coronavirus pandemic.
Sharif also requested the NAB authorities to interview him on Skype and sent a written reply to the questionnaire sent by the investigation agency through its representative.
NAB did not accept the plea and issued Sharif’s arrest warrants. A NAB team also reached his Model Town residence in Lahore on Tuesday to take him into custody, spending about 90 minutes to detain him, but it later returned to its office since the former Punjab chief minister was not found at his home.
Sharif had already filed a pre-arrest bail plea at the Lahore High Court which was fixed for a hearing on Wednesday. His lawyers submitted that NAB had been leveling allegations against their client for the last 16 months but the agency had failed to file any reference against him.
They also claimed that the proceedings of the NAB case were based on mala fide intention since the agency had summoned Sharif on June 2 while his arrest warrants had been issued on May 28.
NAB prosecutor pleaded that the anti-graft watchdog had sufficient evidence against the leader of the opposition to arrest him since he was involved in money laundering and possessing assets beyond his stated means of income. He also argued that the court had previously rejected the bail plea of Hamza Shahbaz, Sharif’s son, and two other accused in a similar case.
The court granted pre-arrest bail to Sharif till the 17th of this month, instructing him to cooperate with the agency in its investigations.
“The authorities have issued arrest warrant of Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif in the assets beyond means case. The court has granted him pre-arrest bail and told the accused to cooperate with NAB. The agency will also honor the court order,” a NAB official told Arab News.
Leaders of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) reacted strongly to the development, blaming the government for politically victimizing the opposition.
“The PML-N is ready for accountability. NAB should file references against us in courts instead of arresting us. We are ready to face any charges, but the government has nothing solid against us and is using unethical tactics. It has adopted a vindictive approach,” former PML-N prime minister Shahid Khan Abbasi told Arab News.
Court grants Shahbaz Sharif pre-arrest bail in assets beyond means case
https://arab.news/5qanx
Court grants Shahbaz Sharif pre-arrest bail in assets beyond means case
- The country’s anti-graft watchdog raided his house on Tuesday to arrest him
- Sharif’s party leaders maintain the government is trying to politically victimize the opposition
UNGA adopts Pakistan-sponsored resolution focusing world attention on Palestine, Kashmir
- The resolution calls on countries to immediately cease foreign military intervention in and occupation of foreign countries and territories
- Islamabad says the resolution reinforces international attention to the legitimate causes and aspirations of Palestinian, Kashmiri peoples
ISLAMABAD: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted a Pakistan-sponsored resolution on the peoples’ right to self-determination, Pakistan’s UN mission said on Friday, saying it reinforces the world attention to the Palestine and Kashmir issues.
The text, which was adopted by consensus, was recommended last month by the 193-member General Assembly’s Third Committee, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues, according to Pakistani state media.
Co-sponsored by 65 countries, it called on countries to immediately cease foreign military intervention in and occupation of foreign countries and territories as well as acts of “repression, discrimination, and maltreatment.”
The resolution also declared the General Assembly’s firm opposition to acts of foreign military intervention, aggression and occupation, which have resulted in suppression of peoples’ right to self-determination in parts of the world.
“The consensual adoption of the resolution manifests broad international support for the inalienable right of the peoples facing colonialism, alien domination and foreign occupation,” Pakistan’s UN mission said on X.
“For the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and Palestine, the resolution reinforces international attention to their just and legitimate cause and their aspirations for freedom and dignity in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.”
Pakistan, which does not recognize Israel, supports an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and pre-1967 borders, calling for an end to Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Kashmir, on the other hand, has been divided between Pakistan and India since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both countries claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety but rule it in part and have fought multiple wars over it.
Islamabad has repeatedly urged New Delhi to hold a plebiscite in the disputed territory in line with the United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Ambassador Usman Jadoon, Pakistan’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, this week said the realization of self-determination is not merely a historical aspiration, but an enduring obligation.
“Recent developments in the Middle East demonstrate that lasting peace cannot be achieved through the continued denial and suppression of the legitimate right to self-determination of the Palestinian people,” he said on Thursday.
“Similarly, the UN Security Council has, through several resolutions, recognized the legitimate right of self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. A just resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains central to the establishment of durable peace in South Asia.”
