ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday granted protective bail to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son-in-law Haroon Yousaf Aziz.

A division bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice of IHC, Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan heard the petition of Yousaf filed through advocate Amjad Pervaiz.

During the hearing, Haroon Yousaf Aziz appeared before the court along with his counsel Amjad Pervaiz and prayed to the court for protective bail in the NAB reference.

The IHC bench granted protective bail to Haroon Yousaf for surety money of 25,000 rupees. He was also ordered to appear before the concerned court within 14 days.

Previously, the same bench had restrained the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting him a day earlier.

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

He 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.

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.

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