LAHORE: An anti-corruption court on Thursday granted interim pre-arrest bail to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s daughter Rabia Imran and her husband Ali Imran Yousaf in a case of alleged irregularities in the Punjab Saaf Pani Company.

The couple appeared before the court where Judge Javed Iqbal Warraich conducted the proceedings. He allowed the bail petitions and sought a reply from the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) by the next hearing on May 4.

The couple had earlier been declared proclaimed offenders due to their self-exile. They later approached the accountability court, which suspended their arrest warrants and allowed them to surrender before the law. However, the case was transferred to the anti-corruption court as the accountability court lost jurisdiction following amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance.

The couple was accused of getting illegal monetary benefit by renting out their building to the Saaf Pani Company to establish its office. Other accused persons, including PM Shehbaz and senior bureaucrats, have already been acquitted in the case.

The other day, a special court (central) also granted pre-arrest bail to Rabia and her husband in a Rs16bn money laundering case filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The FIA had filed this case against PM Shehbaz and his family members during the government of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in 2020. The trial court had acquitted PM Shehbaz and his son Hamza in 2022 in the money laundering case, allowing their acquittal applications filed under Section 265 K of the CrPC.

Hamza’s brother Suleman was acquitted in 2023.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2026