ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) restrained the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son-in-law Haroon Yousaf Aziz.

A division bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq on Wednesday heard the petition moved by Yousaf through advocate Amjad Pervaiz.

After restraining the NAB from arresting him, the IHC bench also directed the prime minister’s son-in-law to appear before the court on Thursday (today) for protective bail.

In the petition, Aziz cited chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Director General NAB Lahore, and Judge Accountability Court Lahore as respondents.

Aziz requested the court for grant of the protective bail, enabling him to surrender before the competent court of law. Aziz is a co-accused in the assets reference.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s lawyer Amjad Pervaiz adopted the stance that his client was returning this evening through a flight. He said that his client wanted to surrender before the court on his return and prayed the court to halt the bureau from arresting him.

After hearing his arguments, the court stopped the NAB from arresting the accused so he could appear before the bench in his protective bail in the case on December 22.

According to the NAB, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s family members received foreign funds through alleged fake transactions. These transactions had been made through the company, allegedly owned by Shehbaz Sharif’s son-in-law Haroon Yousaf Aziz. The maximum numbers of fake transactions to the Shehbaz family had been made through Al-Zarooni Exchange of Dubai. Haroon Yousaf, PM Shehbaz’s son Suleman, and daughter Rabia Imran were declared absconders by the court for avoiding their appearance in the case proceedings.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022