LAHORE - Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan Monday formed a three-member bench to hear the bail petition of Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif in a money-laundering case after split decision of a division bench on the matter.

The three-member bench would be headed by Justice Syed Ali Baqar Najafi whereas Justice Aalia Neelum and Justice Syed Shahbaz Rizvi would be its members. The matter had been referred to the chief justice for appointment of a referee judge to decide the issue after split decision of a division bench.

Previously, Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar, who headed the division bench, allowed Shehbaz Sharif’s bail petition, while the other bench member Justice Asjad Javed Ghural had dismissed the petition. 

Justice Ghural observed: “Suffice is to say that sufficient incriminating material is available on the record to connect the petitioner with the alleged offense and thus, he is not entitled to the relief claimed for.”

Shehbaz Sharif, through his petition, had sought the relief of post-arrest bail, while referring to delay in conclusion of trial, relief of bail to co-accused, and hardship.

Shehbaz was arrested on Sept 28, 2020 after the LHC denied him further relief of pre-arrest bail in the case.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had nominated 16 persons as accused in the case. However, only 10, out of 16, had been indicted yet. Besides Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza Shehbaz, Javeria Ali, Fazl Dad Abbasi, Rashid Karamat, Muhammad Usman, Masroor Anwar, Nisar Ahmad, Shoaib Qamar, and Qasim Qayyum had been indicted in the case. However, Suleman Shehbaz, Nusrat Shehbaz, Rabia Imran, Syed Muhammad Tahir Naqvi, Haroon Yousafzai and another could not be indicted due to their absence from the court proceedings.

In a reference, comprising 55 volumes, the Bureau had alleged that Shehbaz Sharif family committed massive money laundering of Rs 7 billion. Yasir Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmad, Shahid Rafique and Aftab were declared approvers in the reference.