ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son Suleman Shehbaz Wednesday approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking protective bail to return to the country and appear before a court in the money laundering case. A division bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice of IHC Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan will conduct hearing of the petition moved by Suleman’s counsel Amjad Pervaiz who sought two weeks protective bail for his client in a money laundering case registered against him. Suleman has stated in the petition that he is a “businessman” and has never been a public office-holder. He also maintained that a “baseless” and “false case of money laundering” has been filed against him. He also claimed that all shares remain registered with the Securities and Exchange C o m m i s s i o n of Pakistan (SECP) and that he had never received a notice from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The petitioner stated, “I have been residing in the United Kingdom since 2018.” He maintained that the FIA filed a case against him in his absence. “Despite the fact I had been living in the UK since October 27, 2018, I had never received a notice from the FIA, who had filed a case against me while I was away. I left the country in 2018, but the case was only lodged in 2020 and afterwards.” Therefore, he requested the court to grant him protective bail for two weeks. According to the petition, “Suleman was the target of political retaliation and he now wants to show up and demonstrate his innocence.” Suleman who was declared absconder in a money laundering case and staying in London, has requested the court to grant him protective bail as he wants to return Pakistan to appear before the court in the case against him. An accountability court in 2019 had also issued non-bailable warrants for the arrest of Suleman Shehbaz in the money laundering case. The FIA banking crime circle had claimed to have unearthed billions of rupees stashed money in bank accounts of his employees. The FIA had registered a case against then-opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif and his sons Hamza and Suleman in November 2020 under Sections 419, 420, 468, 471, 34 and 109 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and r/w 3/4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.