LAHORE - A Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench on Tuesday disposed of the second post-arrest bail petition, filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz in assets-beyond-means case, on a fresh ground that the applicant might contract coronavirus in prison and therefore he should be granted bail. The court, however, disposed of the petition on being withdrawn.

The bench comprising Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem and Justice  Farooq Haider heard the petition. Advocate Azam Nazir Tarar appeared on behalf of Hamza and argued that coronavirus was spreading across the country and there were serious threats in this regard in jail also. He submitted that the court could seek a report from the superintendent of jail as to how many prisoners had been infected by the virus so far. He pleaded with the court for grant of bail to Hamza in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.

However, Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem observed that the Supreme Court had suspended decisions of all high courts for the release of prisoners. He remarked that Hamza Shehbaz should have approached the apex court for bail as the high court had already dismissed his bail petition in February. To which, Azam Tarar submitted that they wanted to wait for the apex court verdict in prisoners release matter and requested the court to grant permission for withdrawal of the petition. Subsequently, the bench disposed of the petition on being withdrawn.