LAHORE: On Tuesday during the accountability court hearing, (PML-N) Pakistan Muslim league-N President Shahbaz Sharif presented a letter from the Chinese Consul General in Lahore crediting the former chief minister for realising the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in Punjab.
This happened during the hearing of a corruption reference pertaining to Ramazan Sugar Mills filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the PML-N chief, according to news.
The anti-graft watchdog alleged that the former chief minister issued directives to use Rs200 million from public money to construct a drain in District Chiniot primarily for the use of the sugar mills owned by his sons. His son, Hamza Shahbaz, is also under arrest in the case.
On Tuesday the father-son duo were brought to the accountability court in separate vehicles by Kot Lakhpat jail officials with PML-N workers gathered outside the judicial complex to welcome their leaders.
Hamza’s counsel informed the bench that mobile jammers were injurious to health. To which, the judge questioned who should be blamed for using mobile phones in court rooms.
The PML-N president as he began reading the letter before the court said, the judge asked whether he had something to say. “I have brought a letter sent to me by the Chinese Consul General in Lahore.
I have been facing a barrage of accusation for two years, yet the Chinese Consul General is praising my work as a chief minister. He is appreciating a prisoner it is no doubt an honour for me.
NAB prosecutor objected to Shahbaz Sharif reading the contents of the letter during the hearing, stressing that it was irrelevant to the ongoing case and a waste of the court’s time.
To this, the judge said he had already directed Shahbaz Sharif to stay on topic.