LAHORE: A special court on Friday deferred the indictment of suspects in a money laundering case due to the absence of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif.

A defence lawyer told the court that Mr Sharif was busy in Islamabad due to the National Assembly session on a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan. He also filed a written application for a one-time exemption from personal appearance on behalf of his client.

FIA prosecutor Sikandar Zulqarnain opposed the application, saying the suspects did not respect the courts. He asked whether proceedings of the court were important or those of the assembly. He said the suspects had been trying to delay the indictment on one pretext or the other.

The defence counsel said it was a known fact that the NA session had been summoned to take up the no-trust motion against the prime minister. He said Shehbaz Sharif, being the leader of the opposition, was constitutionally bound to attend the session.

Presiding Judge Ijaz Hassan Awan allowed the application and extended until April 4 the pre-arrest bail of Mr Sharif and his son Hamza, who was present in the court.

The judge directed the counsel of a co-suspect, Mohammad Usman, to conclude his arguments on the point of the court’s jurisdiction by the next hearing.

In this case, the judge had turned down a written request by the FIA to hold the trial proceedings on a daily basis.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2022