Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif on Tuesday approached the Lahore High Court for bail in Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme scam on medical ground.
The petitioner's counsel contended that his client is having sciatica since 1994 due to which he had to take regular exercises, physiotherapy and swimming. He said a recent MRI of the petitioner confirmed desiccation of disc and he was also a cancer survivor and known patient of a number of ailments of very serious nature.
The lawyer pleaded that some of the tests had been carried out; however, the facility of most important test namely "DOTA Octreotide Scan" was not available in Pakistan. He argued that the petitioner was a case of extreme hardship which needed to be considered on compassionate and humanitarian grounds as his detention may prove hazardous and jeopardize his life.
He further said that the petitioner was prompted by malafide intention on the part of prosecution as he was neither nominated nor attributed to any role in both so called complaints against him. The counsel pleaded that the investigation to the extent of petitioner stood completed so his further incarceration would not serve any purpose.
The prosecution alleged that he being chief minister of Punjab misused his authority by unlawfully assuming powers of Board of Directors of PLDC and in connivance with his co-accused awarded contract to ineligible proxy firm and caused loss to public exchequers amounting to Rs 660 million and the project cost had also enhanced to the tune of Rs 3.39 billion.