Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday has extended interim bail of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and opposition leader in National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif till July 23 in money laundering and assets beyond income cases.

During the hearing, the PML-N leader appeared before the court and requested to extend his bail.

On the occasion, strict security arrangements have been taken to avoid any untoward incident. 

On June 1, Shehbaz Sharif had filed a bail plea in LHC to avoid arrest in assets beyond means and money laundering cases.

The opposition leader, in his plea, took the stance that NAB might arrest him in a pending inquiry. The anti-corruption watchdog had prepared the case with malicious intentions as he has been declaring his assets regularly, Shehbaz stated.

The petition, which was filed through Advocate Amjad Pervaiz, stated that Shehbaz Sharif started his business in 1972 and played an important role in agriculture, sugar and textile industries and joined politics in 1988 for the betterment of the society.

NAB had arrested Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme scam and Ramzan Sugar Mills case in October 2018 and November 2018 respectively.

He was apprehended during his appearance before NAB in Saaf Pani Company scam. Sources told that three files were tabled before him. The bureau quizzed Sharif regarding a tender awarded to a private consultancy company for a survey of the Saaf Pani company.

The PML-N president had failed to satisfy the probing team of the bureau during the investigation and was ultimately arrested.

The anti-graft watchdog had claimed that the company did not conduct any kind of survey but nevertheless was provided a lucrative sum of Rs 1.5 billion.

In February, 2019, LHC had ordered to release Shehbaz Sharif after approving his bail pleas in Ramzan Sugar Mills and Ashiana Housing Scheme cases.

The bail was granted against two surety bonds worth one million each.