LAHORE: Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz has approached the Supreme Court for post-arrest bail in a money laundering/illegal assets reference made by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

“The detention of the petitioner for the last ten months in the absence of any reference or formal charge to answer is violative of fundamental rights such as right to life, liberty, dignity, equal protection of law and treatment in accordance with law,” pleads a petition filed at Lahore registry of the SC through advocates Azam Nazir Tarar and Amjad Pervez.

The Lahore High Court had in February last denied the bail to Hamza in the money laundering case, however, granted bail to him in Ramzan Sugar Mills case. Later, he also sought bail on the ground of being vulnerable to coronavirus in the jail. However, the LHC did not agree with that ground and Hamza’s counsel withdrew the petition only to seek bail from SC on merit.

The petition has presented 27 law points before the SC for the release of the opposition leader on bail. The main questions are whether an asset acquired prior to holding of any public office is amenable to the jurisdiction of the NAB.

Whether in absence of any evidence worth name to suggest any nexus between amassing of assets and abuse of misuse of office, an offence in terms of section 9 (a) ( v) of NAO 1999 can be attracted. Whether declaration of assets before various authorities in due course and possessing assets in one’s own name does not negate the hypothesis of any guilty intent.

Whether Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) 2010 is applicable retrospectively to the transactions relating to the period of 2003 to 2008 and whether the provisions of both laws — NAO and AMLA — can be invoked simultaneously.

The petition further asks the apex court to decide whether onus to prove the allegation of benami properties is not upon the prosecution and whether the non-filing of the reference by the NAB after the lapse of 16 months, since authorization of the inquiry, is tantamount to abuse of process of law.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2020