LAHORE (Sach Khabrain) – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz on Tuesday have appeared before accountability court in Ramzan Sugar Mills case.
During the hearing, the statements of the witnesses were recorded.
On the occasion, strict security arrangements were taken to avoid any untoward incident.
It is to be mentioned here that accountability court had indicted PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz in Sugar Mills reference.
Read more: Shahbaz, son indicted in sugar mills case
Both the accused pleaded not guilty in the reference and their lawyer requested time for case preparation which was rejected by the court.
NAB had claimed that a drain was constructed out of public money in Chiniot to facilitate the Ramzan Sugar when Shehbaz Sharif, the co-accused in the case, was Punjab’s chief minister.
Hamza Shahbaz was also charged in the case as he is the chief executive of the Ramzan Sugar Mills.
In a series of dialogues with the judge, Mr Shahbaz said he served the people of Punjab for 10 years. He said he never used public money even for his car’s fuel during his tenure as chief minister.
He claimed to have saved Rs100 billion in the Orange Line Metro train project. He regretted that NAB had made a case against him about a drain worth Rs200 million close to the mills.
The judge permitted him to take a seat as he complained of pain in his back. The judge later indicted the duo and directed NAB to present its witnesses on the next date of hearing, Aug 27. Previously, they were indicted in the same case in April 2019.
The NAB alleged that Shahbaz, being chief minister of Punjab, had issued a directive for construction of a drain in district Chiniot primarily for the use of the sugar mills owned by his sons.
It said Rs200m was spent for this purpose from public money. The Lahore High Court released Shahbaz on post-arrest bail in this case on Feb 14, 2019 while Hamza, the leader of opposition in the Punjab Assembly, was granted bail on Feb 6.
