LAHORE: An accountability court on Tuesday allowed Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz one-time exemption from appearance in hearing of the Ramzan Sugar Mills reference.

As the proceedings commenced, a jail official explained the non-appearance of Hamza before the court, saying the suspect was on parole since the death of his grandmother last week.

Hamza’s counsel also filed an application for a one-time exemption from personal appearance.

Presiding Judge Amjad Nazir Chaudhry expressed displeasure over non-appearance of Hamza; however, he accepted the application for the one-time exemption from appearance and adjourned hearing till Dec 7. The judge also directed the additional home secretary to submit a report on action taken against the officials responsible for not bringing Hamza from the jail to the court on a previous hearing.

In its reference, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had alleged that Shehbaz, as the chief minister of Punjab, had issued a directive for construction of a drain in district Chiniot primarily for the use of Ramzan Sugar Mills owned by his sons, Hamza and Suleman. It said Rs200m was spent on the project from public money.

Mr Shehbaz has been exempted from personal appearance by the court till the conclusion of the trial and a pleader attends each hearing on his behalf.

Remand extended: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday extended judicial remand of the two suspects in the motorway gang-rape case and directed the investigating officer to submit the charge sheet without delay.

The suspects, namely Abid Malhi and Shafqat alias Bagga, were produced before the court by the jail officials.

The investigating officer requested the court to allow the police more time to complete the challan.

Presiding Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta extended the judicial remand of the suspects for 10 days more and directed the IO to ensure submission of the charge sheet without further delay.

Gujjarpura police had lodged the first information report (FIR) under sections 376, 392 and 427 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Malhi and co-suspect Bagga had allegedly raped a woman on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway on Sept 10.

Both the suspects have confessed to their crime during the police interrogation while Bagga has also recorded his confessional statement before a judicial magistrate under Section 124 of CrPC. The victim woman also identified the suspects during the identification parade conducted in the Central Jail, Kot Lakhpat.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2020