Suleman Shehbaz, the son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has been granted protective bail by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday.
The court also ordered him to appear in court on December 13 and prohibited the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from detaining him upon his return home.
Chief Justice Aamer Farooq of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) heard Suleman Shehbaz’s plea for protective bail. Protective bail requires the applicant to appear in person (self-present), according to Chief Justice Aamer Farooq.
Amjad Pervaiz, Suleman’s attorney, appeared in court during the hearing. The lawyer said that Suleman will be returning to Islamabad airport from Saudi Arabia on December 11 and he wants to appear in the relevant forum in Lahore. The counsel informed the high court that the court had been granting such protective bail in the past as well.
Later the court granted protective bail and adjourned the hearing till December 13 issuing an order restraining from arresting Suleman at the airport. The IHC ordered Suleman to appear by December 13.
Suleman has been living with his family in London since 2018 when the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed several cases against him ahead of the general elections.
FIA had booked Shehbaz Sharif and his sons Hamza and Suleman in November 2020 under sections 419, 420, 468, 471, 34 and 109 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and r/w 3/4 of the Anti Money Laundering Act.
On May 28 arrest warrants were issued for Suleiman but FIA told the court that Suleman Shehbaz was not present in his house and had gone abroad so he could not be arrested.
In July this year, the trial court declared Suleman and another accused as proclaimed offenders in the Rs16 billion money laundering case.
