The Lahore Special Court on Monday acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's son Suleman Shahbaz and all other accused named in the Federal Investigation Agency's Rs 16 billion money laundering case citing lack of evidence.
The special court here issued its order on pleas filed by Suleman and others accused in the case seeking their acquittal. The prime minister's son was present alongside his counsel before the court at the time of the announcement, Geo News reported.
Suleman, who returned to Pakistan in December last year after a four-year self-exile in London, was not only accused in the case but was also named in an assets-beyond-means reference. He was declared a proclaimed offender in both cases.
Ahead of his arrival, the Islamabad High Court restrained both the FIA and NAB from arresting him. The FIA, this January, cited a lack of proof and cleared him in the sugar mills case.
Meanwhile, the FIA has submitted the answers to the 27 questions related to the case in the court.
Hearing the case, the Lahore Court asked the FIA whether they had any incriminating evidence against Suleman and other accused in the case. “The joint investigation team (JIT) members were asked to show 'any iota of incriminating evidence' against Suleman and Syed Muhammad Tahir Naqvi but they remained bewildered throughout the court proceedings, they remained clamouring with one and avowed that they were forced to sign the report under section 173 Criminal Procedure Code and after going through all the seven volumes they unanimously stated before the court that there is no incriminating evidence against the accused,” The Dawn reported quoting the judgment.
The JIT members reportedly informed Court that they were forced to file the case owing to pressure from Mirza Shahzad Akbar, former accountability czar.
Judge Bakht Fakhar Behzad inquired regarding those involved in the inquiry of the money laundering case. FIA's lawyer told the court that the inquiry was conducted by a joint investigation team headed by a late FIA official.
"Tell me straight away, don't make-up stories, I have read it all. I will send all the FIA people to jail now, remember this. I want an answer, what proof of crime was there with the challan?" the judge asked.
Suleman's counsel, Advocate Amjad Parvez, said that the case is baseless and he had spoken against it. The court then asked, under whose pressure the case was filed.
The prosecutor said that there was no direct evidence and Suleman was declared accused in the light of the form used to open the account. After the hearing, the court acquitted all the accused including Suleman in the money laundering case.
"Thanks be to Allah that the facts came before the people, today by the grace of Allah we have been exonerated," Suleman told reporters outside the court.
(With PTI inputs.)
