LAHORE: A Lahore High Court division bench will hear on Jan 29 the petitions of Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz, seeking bails in Ramzan Sugar Mills and illegal assets/money laundering cases.

The bench comprises Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Chaudhry Abdul Aziz.

In the sugar mills case, the petition argued that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) initiated the inquiry with malicious intentions and even then failed to find any irregularity committed by the petitioner.

It said drain in question was built in Bhawana tehsil in public interest as provincial cabinet and the assembly had granted an approval for its construction.

It argued that the bureau found no evidence against the petitioner, while co-accused in the case, former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, was already granted bail by the court.

The petition further said the arrest warrants of Mr Hamza were issued after the charges were framed against him in the case.

In his other petition, Hamza also questioned the NAB jurisdiction to investigate into charges of money laundering.

It said Anti-Money Laundering Act was a special law and the bureau could not invoke it. The petition asked the court to quash the inquiry and release Mr Hamza on bail.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2020