Ramzan Sugar Mills, Ashiana cases: Hearing adjourned till May 11.

LAHORE -- Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Mohammad Hamza Shahbaz Sharif on Monday appeared before accountability court in Ashiana Housing and Ramzan Sugar Mills references.

During the hearing, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Opposition Leader in National Assembly (NA) Mian Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif's exemption plea was approved by the duty judge Wasim Akhtar.

The duty judge adjourned the hearing of the Ramzan Sugar Mills and Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing cases till May 11 due to the absence of the judge scheduled to conduct the hearing.

Accountability court judge Syed Najamul Hassan Bukhari was due to hear the Ashiana Housing case against the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif, and the Ramzan Sugar Mills case against his son, Hamza Shehbaz. The cases, however, could not be heard as the judge was on leave.

The accountability court had earlier accepted an application by Shehbaz seeking exemption from personal appearance for a day. The PML-N president had submitted the application through his counsel Amjad Pervaiz, who had asked the court to grant his client exemption from court proceedings until May 8 as he was abroad for medical treatment.

Punjab Assembly opposition leader Hamza Shehbaz appeared before the court on Monday; his security guards, however, were stopped from entering the court.

The father-son duo were indicted in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case earlier this month. The National Accountability Bureau in February had...