Suleman Shehbaz, the younger son of Prime Minister Shehbaz, on Saturday appeared before a court in Lahore in the money laundering case.
The special court central judge will hear the petitions filed by Suleman and co-suspects seeking exemption acquittal in the Rs16 billion money laundering case as the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has admitted that it found no incriminating evidence against him.
On Jan 21, the FIA investigators submitted a challan in the special court central during the hearing of a bail plea filed by the son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. According to the challan, the suspects Suleman and Tahir Naqvi were not involved in receiving kickbacks and had no link with the case, the judge remarked.
After reviewing the challan, the judge asked the suspects if they wanted to withdraw their bail petitions. To which, they took back the pleas for pre-arrest bail in the money-laundering case.
The development came days after Suleman Shehbaz appeared before an investigation team in the FIR 39/2020 related to the Ramzan Sugar Mills and benami accounts to submit his reply. Last year, the special court had acquitted PM Shehbaz and his elder son, Hamza Shehbaz, in this case registered against them in November 2020.
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The special central court declared Suleman Shehbaz a perpetual proclaimed offender in July last due to his continued absence from court proceedings. However, he secured a bail from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in December 2022 and reached back Pakistan after ending his four-year self-exile.