Detailed order on bail confirmation: No witness accused Shehbaz, Hamza of corruption: court.

LAHORE -- The judge of a special court (Central-I) on Monday observed that none of the prosecution witnesses levelled allegations of bribe, kickbacks or corrupt practices against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz in the Rs16 billion money laundering case instituted by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

'Prima facie, allegations of gratification, corrupt practice, abuse of authority, kickbacks and [receiving] commission require further probe during trial as at this stage cogent evidence is not available,' judge Ijaz Hassan Awan observed in his detailed order on confirmation of pre-arrest bails of Mr Shehbaz, Mr Hamza and other suspects in the case.

The judge had on June 11 allowed the petitions of the suspects and confirmed their pre-arrest bails subject to furnishing of bonds.

In his 22-page written order, the judge notes that the FIA registered the FIR on Nov 14, 2020, but did not submit any interim challan till Dec 12, 2021.

He says the main suspects -- Shehbaz and Hamza -- were included in investigation when they were already in jail in connection with a reference of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), but their arrests were affected in the FIA's case.

'There has been a complete silence on part of the FIA for a period of about five months since the investigation team visited the Central Jail,' the judge adds.

The judge observes that the FIA issued call-up notices to the suspects after they were released on bail in the NAB reference by the Lahore High Court.

He states that this prima facie shows that the prosecution wanted another arrest of the petitioners (Shehbaz and Hamza) but after their release on bail in the accountability reference.

'Prima facie this shows mala fide on the part of the FIA,' the judge maintains.

The judge observes that in the FIR, it has been alleged that a politician gave a cheque worth Rs14 million personally to Mr Shehbaz in lieu of party (PML-N) ticket.

However, he says, neither the name of the said politician has been mentioned in the FIR, nor any documentary evidence in support of the allegations is available on the record.

The judge notes that the FIR claims that the politician failed to make any statement in writing and no politician has been made witness in the case.

The judge also observes that initially the figure of Rs25 billion was mentioned in the FIR as alleged amount of money laundering, but later it was reduced to Rs16bn after deleting some bank...