ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday granted protective bail for 14 days to Suleman Shehbaz, the son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a money laundering case.
Justice Aamer Farooq heard the case and Suleman appeared before the court following his return to Pakistan after four years in self-exile in London. He was accompanied by his lawyer Amjad Pervaiz.
Suleman Shehbaz took protective bail in an effort to surrender before the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) court, which has declared him as an absconder in the money laundering case against him.
Earlier, the IHC had barred the authorities from arresting Suleman Shehbaz upon his arrival in Pakistan and ordered him to surrender himself before the authorities by December 13.
Suleman went abroad in October 2018, after which a case of alleged money laundering was filed against him. Later, he continued to live abroad in self-imposed exile. On December 8, he approached the high court through his lawyer, requesting to return to the country and surrender before the court to end his exile.
The court approved his request, stopping the FIA and other agencies from arresting him.
Talking to media personnel outside the court, the premier’s son stated that he had returned to Pakistan after four years to surrender before the courts. “The whole world saw the games (PTI chief) Imran Khan played with the country and my family in the past four years,” he claimed.
Suleman added that the retired National Accountability Bureau judge justice Javed Iqbal, who was responsible for the money laundering proceedings against him, was a “black spot on the accountability system”.
He maintained that PML-N leader and Interior Minister Rana Sanuallah was acquitted after a false case of heroin was registered against him.
He furthered said the Sharif family was targeted as part of political vendetta and that people were pressured into giving false statement to arrest members of the Sharif family. He stated that he now believed that the country had a fair environment, adding that PTI leader Shehzad Akbar was “on the run” from Pakistan.
