Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan's Prime Minister
On July 20, 2023, an accountability court in Lahore, acquitted Shahbaz Sharif, his son Hamza Sharif and his wife Nusrat Sharif in an eight billion Pakistani rupees money laundering case filed by the National Accountability Bureau, reported Dawn.
The court acquitted Shahbaz and his family including his daughter Javeria Ali, Muhammad Usman, Masrour Anwar, Shoaib Qamar, Qassim Qayyum, Rashid Karamat, Ali Ahmed and Nisar Ahmed, according to Geo News. The court also issued an arrest warrant for Sharif’s daughter Rabia Imran. As per Geo News, she was the absconder in the case.
Rabia Imran left for the UK (United Kingdom) since she was named in the case. The Sharif Family termed the case as political victimisation, and he often used the term personal vendetta for all such cases imposed on him by his political opponents. He claims all these cases as baseless and false.
The decision of the court came after the accused filed petitions seeking acquittal on the basis of their argument on NAB’s inability to produce any evidence against them. The NAB investigators have said that no evidence was found against them. While announcing the verdict, the court said that it had no other option except to acquit as NAB has no evidence against them.
The corruption case was filed by the NAB in 2020 during the tenure of Imran Khan, the ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan and the leader of the Pakistan-Tehreek-Insaaf (PTI)
In August 2020, the anti-graft watchdog fled the reference for inquiry that had been underway since 2018, said Geo News. At that time Sharif served as the leader of the opposition in Pakistan’s National Assembly.
The NAB arrested Shahbaz Sharif after the High Court rejected his bail in the case on September 29, 2020, and the accountability court indicted Shahbaz, Hamza, and others accused on November 11, 2020. However, Sharif was released on bail in April 2021. Last week, a special district court acquitted his son Suleman Shahbaz and others in a money laundering case, The Express Tribune of Pakistan said.
The decision came as the district court was hearing acquittal pleas filed by Shahbaz Sharif’s son Suleman and others accused in a sixteen billion money laundering case, However, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had earlier replied to twenty-seven questions asked by the court, the Express Tribune reported.
During the hearing, the court asked whether the FIA had recorded any written statement by any witness during the probe, to which the FIA investigation officer Ali Mardan remained silent. The court further asked about their actions against those who kept changing their stance during the investigation.
According to the report, the investigation officer responded that no action was taken. However, the FIA Lawyer added that there was no evidence against Suleman in the money laundering case. The court accepted the pleas submitted by the accused and acquitted Suleman and others in the case.
The Pakistan People’s Party senior leader and barrister Aitzaz Ahsan alleged that former Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and the military establishment had rescued the Sharif family in corruption cases against them.
He said, “Bajwa Sahib has rescued the Sharif Family from conviction in cases, and he has committed a big crime.” He claimed that the cases against Prime Minister Shahbaz, his elder brother and former premier Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz Sharif were open and shut, and their conviction was evident, but the top man rescued them
This is not the first time when Shahbaz himself or his family members were convicted in scams and controversies. Last month, the accountability court acquitted Nawaz Sharif in a case of alleged illegal allotment of plots in the Punjab province (Pakistan Punjab) in the year 1986.
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