LAHORE: An accountability court on Wednesday granted interim pre-arrest bail to Haroon Yousaf, a son-in-law of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a reference of money laundering made by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Yousaf had been declared a proclaimed offender by the court for his constant disappearance in the proceedings.

On Wednesday, Yousaf appeared before the court along with his legal team and sought pre-arrest bail.

A lawyer argued before the court that the NAB implicated Yousaf in the reference on political grounds as he was son-in-law of a politician. He said the petitioner was ready to join the investigation before the NAB but there was an apprehension of his arrest.

He asked the court to allow the bail to the petitioner so he could appear before the investigation team to prove his innocence.

The court granted the pre-arrest bail to Yousaf till Jan 12 and directed him to join the investigation before the NAB. In this reference, the NAB alleged that the family members and benamidars of PM Shehbaz received fake foreign remittances of billions in their personal bank accounts.

In addition to these remittances, the bureau said, billions of rupees were laundered by way of foreign pay orders, which were deposited with personal bank accounts of his sons Hamza and Suleman.

PM Shehbaz, his son Hamza, daughter Javeria Ali have been indicted in the reference besides other accused including Fazal Dad Abbasi, Rashid Karamat, Muhammad Usman, Masroor Anwar, Nisar Ahmad, Shoaib Qamar and Qasim Qayum.

Shehbaz’s wife Nusrat has been indicted through a pleader as she is out of the country. Suleman recently ended his self-exile and returned to the country and got pre-arrest bail in the reference.

MNA gets bail: An anti-corruption court on Wednesday granted post-arrest bail to PML-N MNA Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf in an alleged land fraud case.

Presiding Judge Khalid Mahmood Bhatti allowed the bail petition of the MNA subject to furnishing bail bonds of Rs100,000.

The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) had arrested Ashraf on the allegations of grabbing over 157 acres of state land by forgery and fraud in connivance with Patwari Muhammad Saleem and Gardawar Riasat Ali.

It further alleged that Ashraf grabbed the state land by showing Sharif Ahmed Hashmi as a fake allottee of the state land.

The MNA was arrested in Sahiwal and later shifted to Lahore.

In the bail petition, the MNA through his counsel argued that the case against him was politically motivated. He said the ACE had no evidence to establish the charges against the petitioner.

The counsel said the investigation had been completed and there was no need to keep the petitioner behind bars. He asked the court to release the petitioner on bail.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2023