Anti-Corruption Court Acquits Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shehbaz in Ramzan Sugar Mill Case
On Thursday, an anti-corruption court acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz in the Ramzan Sugar Mill case. The court reached this decision after both the defense and prosecution presented their arguments.
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The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a reference in 2018 against then Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son, alleging a misuse of authority that purportedly caused a loss of Rs213 million to the national exchequer. The NAB claimed that Shehbaz had directed the construction of a drain in the Chiniot district primarily to benefit Ramzan Sugar Mills, owned by his sons Hamza and Suleman.
On October 17, 2024, the accountability court transferred the case to the anti-corruption court due to jurisdictional amendments in the National Accountability Ordinance 1999. These amendments stipulated that the NAB could not prosecute offences involving amounts less than Rs500 million. Since the alleged corruption in this case was below this threshold, it fell outside the NAB’s purview.
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The anti-corruption court, which had previously reserved its verdict, accepted the acquittal pleas of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shehbaz. Defense counsel Amjad Pervaiz argued that the case was politically motivated, noting that the directive for the drain’s construction was approved by the Punjab cabinet as part of a broader development scheme, not by the then chief minister.
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