LAHORE: An accountability court on Saturday directed the superintendent of Kot Lakhpat central jail to provide home-cooked food, a mattress and all other entitled facilities under the law to Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz, an under-trial prisoner in a money laundering and illegal assets reference.

Hamza’s counsel Amjad Pervez filed an application before the court pleading that proper food and other facilities were required to be provided to the suspect in view of his compromised health condition since he recently recovered from Covid-19 pandemic.

The counsel referred to rule 375 of the Pakistan Prisoner Rules 1978, which permitted an under-trial prisoner to purchase or receive from private source, food, clothing, bedding and other necessaries subject to certain conditions.

Presiding Judge Jawadul Hassan disposed of the application with a direction to the jail superintendent to proceed strictly in accordance with the law and prisons rules and provide the home-cooked moderate food, a mattress and facilities to the suspect he was entitled to.

Hamza has been languishing behind bars since his arrest by the NAB on June 11, 2019, in the references of Ramzan Sugar Mills and the money laundering. The Lahore High Court later granted him post-arrest bail in the sugar mills case, however, denied him bail in the other reference on Feb 11, 2020.

His father, Shehbaz Sharif, has also been sent on judicial remand by the court in the money-laundering reference.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2020